The Bride trials
by Draguna Doragon
Summary: A bounty hunter, a ninja, an ex spec-ops officer, an animal behaviourist and a geneticist have been put together with one aim. Bring back two escaped human-alien hybrids. Before they know it they are all part of a deadly new game. The Bride Trials. Where they must survive, but the Hunters that trying to win them. MA for gore and steamy reasons. Book 2. Hunters R&B house is book 1.
1. The hunting party gathers

Something was wrong. She didn't like the look of the people she'd been put in a room with. Bonnie Jones was a bounty hunter and did pretty damn well for herself. Particularly in her old stomping ground of LA. Lots of criminals running away from the law there, with plenty of debt behind them too. If she wasn't catching the bastards and handing them over to the police, she was handing them over to debt collectors. It was a lucrative business that paid her debts, and bought her a nice condo on the beach where she could go for a run in peace with her three Alsatians. They used to come on the job with her as back up, but they're too damn old and lazy now. Fluffy, Fang and Chuckles did make her smile...

 _So what I want to know is why the fuck have I been dragged away from my cushy bed at the crack of fucking dawn by the feds and thrown into a room with all these bitches?_

Bonnie sat forward on her chair, elbows balanced across her knees and her hands throwing a tennis ball from one to the other lazily. Her long brown hair was tied into two long pigtails and slipped over her chest as she leaned further forwards. She scanned the room with cold blue eyes and licked her teeth with boredom. She was the last to be thrown into this room, apparently, as she'd been sat here cooling her heels with these _fine ladies_ for an hour now, and no one else had joined them.

One of the women screamed geek. She didn't look uncomfortable with this abduction, and was working away happily on her laptop. She sat at a desk and ignored the rest of the room. The trainers, slacks, white blouse and blue lab coat gave her away as a squint. _Change the colour all you like sweetheart. A lab coat is a lab coat, even if it's pink._ Her hair was brown and tied back in a large bun. In fact, Bonnie was only disappointed that the woman wasn't wearing jam jar glasses over her hazel eyes. she had some freckles across her cheeks though, so Bonnie's faith in the stereotype had been restored.

Sat at the far side of the horseshoe of chairs she found herself on the end of, was a woman that screamed 'I'm a good soldier'. Hispanic looking woman, pretty, but her dark brown eyes were hard. Like hers. _She's seen some shit._ The woman had her long raven hair tied back in a plat and her uniform was none-descriptive as to which part of the military she belonged to. Military issue boots, camouflage trousers, belt, jacket and white tank top underneath it. she didn't have any distinctive tags, and she sat upright in the chair _patiently_. Bonnie had caught this woman looking them all up and down discretely, sizing them up, and dismissing them as any sort of risk. _My ass. She shouldn't underestimate people like that. all people are dangerous._

Next in their merry little gathering was an Asian woman. She was dressed like a civilian in ugg boots, skinny blue jeans, a long blue tank top with a cartoon bunny on the front and a long black coat. She sat with one leg crossed over the other and the foot swayed from side to side slowly. Her short bob of black hair had a blue sheen to it, and her curved fringe was dyed pure blue. Her eyes were icy blue, odd for a person of Asian descent to have, but everything about this girl was odd. _It's that smile on her face. She's clearly nuts. I hate the crazy ones._

Finally there was a sane looking woman next to her. She was the only woman she'd ever met that was taller than her, and Bonnie was 6ft. They had a similar physique, tall, toned but not bulky. No steroids for breakfast here. Her rack was enough to make Bonnie envious, sporting D's herself, this woman looked at least two sizes bigger than her. _must be proportional to her height. Dam._ She wore practical boots, denim shorts, a short sleeved green t shirt and her dark green body warmer hung over the chair. Her hair was blonde and cut into a short pixie cut, very practical, and her green eyes caught hers as she smiled.

"You look like shit." The woman addressed her, making her snigger and point down at herself.

"Oh this? well, I was in bed when they snagged my ass." Bonnie was wearing nothing but a pair of black sleeping shorts and a black vest that _just_ covered her chest. "No time to change apparently. If anything those fuckers were lucky."

"Why?" The blonde folded her arms over her ample chest and turned to give her her full attention.

"It's been so damn hot recently I usually sleep in the buff." The blonde chuckled and bumped her shoulder with hers.

 _Hmmm_ Bonnie thought. _A nice girl with a sense of humour. The first normal person I've met is a fucking Aryan, but never mind._ "You know, let's get this shit rolling. I'm Bonnie Jones. You?" She offered the taller woman a hand, and she shook it. _hmm, firm grip._

"I'm Henrietta Klaus."

"Ah, german?"

"Ja." She chuckled. "I was born in Dusseldorf, but I have worked all over the world which helped me learn English, and other languages."

"So you're a linguist?" Bonnie cocked her head to one side, and clocked that the other three women were paying attention to their conversation.

"Nein. I'm a Dr of Biology and Ecology. I specialise in the study of predatory species in their natural and unnatural habitat. Their behavioural patterns and their impact on other species within their environment."

"Wow, _totally_ need to apologise to you Henrietta." Bonnie put her hands up. "I didn't peg you for a brain box. You look like me."

"You'd be surprised how many times I'm asked if I'm a personal trainer." Henrietta chuckled and stretched her arms in the air, cracking something in her back as she moved. "Keeping up and avoiding lions and Komodo Dragons requires you to be fit."

"I'll say, _Dr Klaus_."

"Please call me Hetta." She chuckled, so feminine for such a tall woman. "So Bonnie, what is your profession that requires you to keep so fit?" Hetta poked her six-pack and raised a shapely brow at her.

"I'm a Bounty hunter." She shrugged. "I find people. Those people are not usually nice and usually put up quite a fight."

"I bet..."

"And that's us two. Your turn." Bonnie threw to the room and locked her steely eyes onto the solider across from her.

"I'm private Antonia Hernandez." Bonnie raised a brow at the woman. She looked Hispanic, but she sounded British. Not posh, but not American. "S.A.S, weapons expert."

"Pleased to meet you Ant-"

"Oh, no." The soldier waved her hands, stopping Bonnie in her tracks. "Call me Toni."

"Excellent." The Asian woman started giggling and looked at the unnerved soldier. "I'm starting to understand why we are here."  
"And you are? And you care to share?" Bonnie, Hetta and Toni stared intently at the peppy woman.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not, I'm an assassin." Toni went on edge, like she was contemplating arresting her. "Government approved."

"Which government?" the woman cackled at that, and put her hands on her hips.

"Whichever one pays me enough." She winked at the solider, pissing her off. "I'm Noriko Shinju. And if _I'm_ here, someone needs to be made dead."

"What?" the lab coat squeaked up from the desk, blinking her hazel eyes at the room.

"Think about it." Noriko got to her feet and walked over to the nerd's side, making her _very_ nervous. "Look." She pointed to Bonnie first. "A bounty hunter, a tracker of dangerous predators, one of Britain's version of special ops _and_ a weapons expert, and of course little ol' me, an assassin...you do the math doc."

"Why do you keep calling her doc?" Hetta got to her feet, feeling the need to get the Asian woman away from the trembling doctor. "You've met?"

"No. But she smells of an operating table. Either that, or a morgue."

"Try a laboratory." The timid woman waited for Hetta to stare off Noriko into returning to her seat before continuing. "I'm a geneticist. In fact I'm on the verge of mapping and splicing a resistance to uncontrolled mutations from a species of salamander. The implications of that if we could introduce that gene into a human host would eventually help to cure diseases like cancer." She snapped the laptop shut. "And yet despite this, I've been dragged from my lab for days now and no one has told me why."

"And you are?" Bonnie was feeling a headache coming on. this woman spoke at a million miles an hour.

"Oh, forgive me." She cleared her throat. "I'm Dr Emma O'Riley. I work for Wayland-Yutani incorporated in their-"

The door slammed open and in came two army generals and another woman in a lab coat. She was much older than the rest of them, with her aging blonde hair twisted back into a hair pin and, her watery blue eyes cold and calculating behind her square glasses, and her hands on her white lab coat pocket as she led the generals into the centre of the room.

"Good morning everyone. I take it you've taken the liberty of introducing yourselves to each other?"

"Yeah, it was real heart warming." Bonnie grumbled, and kicked her legs out. "Why are we here?"

"Yes, straight to the point. I am Dr Jenkins, and work for a company that I will not name at this time. you are specialists in your field, and you have been recruited to-"

"Abducted." Bonnie grumbled, ever the rebel. Dr Jenkins set her stare to freeze and glared down at the unworthy woman.

"...recruited to do a very specific job. This is a matter of national security, and so you will have to sign disclaimers before I can give you any details."

"Brilliant." Bonnie jumped to her feet, her breasts bouncing under her night top. "So I'll _not_ be doing that and _will_ be going home now then."

"Miss Bonnie Jones, let me make something _very clear_ before you make the wrong decision."

The two generals started handing out very thick contracts out to them all, and Bonnie was having a standoff with this bitch of a doctor. "If you leave this room without signing the form and agreeing to the job, the company I work for will _ruin_ your life." Bonnie clenched her teeth and her fists. She squared up to the doctor and glared at her for all she was worth.

"I'd like to see you fucking try it." frustrating her more than anything, Jenkins just smirked and tilted her head ever so to one side.

"You're mortgage will go into default, the less than legal retrieval of convicts will be brought down on you so hard you'll not remember how you ended up in prison with all those people you helped put there." Bonnie seethed, her fists shaking by her sides. _I'm going to knock this bitch out._

"You can't do that."

"Go on then." The doctor chuckled coldly and pointed to the door. It wasn't being guarded. She could walk straight out. "No one will stop you Miss Jones, however you know the consequences." Dr Jenkins turned to the room. "Oh, and similar if not worse fates await the rest of you if you try to leave as well." She glared down at Dr O'Riley until she took her laptop and vacated the desk. She then put an ear piece in and pressed a board clicker. The panels behind the desk opened up to reveal a large computer screen, which was in standby mode. "Hurry up, I'm a very busy woman."

Bonnie stared at the smug woman for a few moments, then made moves to swing for her. Private Antonia charged into her and held her close.

"She clearly works for some big players to make threats like that. Coming from someone who has seen worse done to people in the name of national security, I strongly advice you do this."

"One punch, just one-"

"No." The enraged bounty hunter seethed, shrugged Toni off her and accepted a damn contract from one of the generals.

"Fine! Here's to fucking team work!"

They all begrudgingly signed their confidential agreement wavers and hardly blinked before they were whisked away from them.

"At last. Now, as to why you are here." Dr Jenkins pressed her clicker and the screen showed two side by side images. They were women...in hospital gowns...on metal tables... "This is Alice." She pointed to the left hand side of the screen. The woman had a snarl on her face, long brown dreadlocks, deep honey tanned skin and big amber eyes. As she snarled she revealed two sets of fangs set on top of her normal gums. One set above her upper canines, and one set below her lower ones. There was also some sort of large birthmark on her skin, like freckles, but bigger, and outlining her face, neck, arms and legs from what they could see. "And this is Eve." Jenkins pointed to the right side of the screen, showing a second woman. Her skin was much paler but she wasn't athletic looking like 'Alice'. She had curves to spare, voluptuous in every way...except for a very long looking black tail flailing from the table. It had a skeletal design and a spear shaped point to the end. Her long raven hair fanned around her smirking face. Her eyes...were black. No whites, no pupils, no iris, just black.

"What the fuck are they?" Bonnie jumped out of her seat and pointed at the screen. "Lady, I've seen freaky people, but those _things_ take the fucking prize."

"Indeed." Dr Jenkins looked down at her like an un-amused school teacher, and waited for the naughty girl to return to her seat. "Against what you will want to believe, due to the extensive nature of our cover ups over the years, our planet has been visited regularly by a humanoid species that has only been described as a predator. A hunter. We don't know their names. But why know their pattern and what they want." Jenkins clicked the screen. All the women flinched at the sight of their very first Predator. He was stupidly tall and ridiculously ripped. He (loin cloth suggested heavily that it was male) had deep cream and yellow mottled skin, some sort of camouflage netting covering his body, armoured boots, gauntlets, chest and back plates and one hell of a mask. It showed off a wide brow, and slightly protruding mouth. The picture had been taken of the predator moving, as the long dreads were twisting through the air, showing that he was actually turning around when the shot was taken. "They are hunters of what they deem to be worthy pray."

"Predators, humanoid predators." Hetta gulped, gripping her knees so hard her knuckles had turned white. "I can only theorise that from their sheer...size and tools that they must hunt something like...us."

"Even I could have told you that." Noriko pretended to gag, sat back in her chair with a huff.

"You would be correct." The doctor continued. "They come to our planet every 50 or so years, or when the temperature is suitably high enough for them. In cold years they don't venture out, it seems."

 _Oh great._ Bonnie scowled. _Bitch has a sense of humour about something that hunts our kind. Great._ "We have had quite a few _interactions_ with this species over the last few generations, and although it has taken us that amount of time, we have gathered enough intel to gain an advantage." She changed the screen, showing the same predator pressing buttons on his left gauntlet, and then disappearing.

"What the fuck?!" Jenkins ignored Bonnie's outburst this time.

"They are on average 7 ft tall, have very dense muscle tissue that most bullet wounds will only inflict shallow, if not superficial wounds to. They are all medically trained enough to deal with their own injuries in the field, and as you can see from this video have vastly superior technology. They can hide themselves from our part of the spectrum, and until the 1990's we thought they could only see in infra red. This is partially true." the good doctor sighed. "However it seems they cured that weakness too by equipping sensors in their masks to compensate for the whole range of the spectrum. In 2004 we discovered one of their half century hunts in Antarctica." She changed the screen again. This showed the schematics of what could have been a maze for all they knew. "Here they stored another species of alien they hunted, even more deadly in my opinion than the predators." Another click, the screen changed, the room flinched and Emma squeaked. "We call these Xenomorphs. The larger one is a queen, and the smaller one is a drone."

"There are those fugly things up in the north pole?" Bonnie gulped. "I'm not going up there."

"You won't have to." Jenkins rolled her eyes, and pointed to the aliens on the screen. "They are dead. These species are highly adaptable killers. Their blood is more acidic than anything _we_ can produce in a lab, and can eat through steel and concrete alike. They use some sort of telepathic and hormone based method of communication rather than sight, and have shown that they also respond to changes in temperature. Their life cycle involves the queen being fertilised by one of her warriors so she can lay eggs. These eggs hatch into-" click, bring on the barf bags. "-what we affectionately call face huggers."

"Erm..." Toni put one hand on her stomach and the other hand up in the air. "...what you say 'face huggers'..."

"Because they require a hose to continue their life cycle. The face huggers are moving eggs in a fashion." she changed the screen again to a human with a face hugger pulsing over his face. "They find a host and forcibly impregnate it with the Xenomorph embryo. It travels half way down the trachea, fuses with the wall and grows outwards in the chest cavity until chestation has been completed."

"Don't tell me they-" Hetta began, only for a _helpful_ picture to appear on the screen. "Oh I think I'm going to hurl."

"This phase is referred to as a chest burster for obvious reasons." The doctor chuckled, sickly amused by how pale they had gone. "This will then feed on the host as much as it can before detection and grow rapidly. The infant will shed its juvenile skin and emerge an adult. All are female, nearly all are drones. A queen will grow to an immense size and control the drones to make a nest and produce the next generation of Xenomorph. A select few of her sister drones are exposed to her pheromones and stimulated into changing genders to-"

"We get the picture." Even Noriko was grossed out by this point.

"I'm glad. Whereas Predators hunt our kind, skin the bodies, tear out the spine and skull to polish and wear on their walls as trophies, Xenomorphs use us as hosts to proliferate at such a rate they can take over a city in days."

"What exactly do you want is to do?" Toni sat forward, game face on.

"Alice and Eve." Jenkins pressed her clicker and sighed, going back to the first image of both women. "Are the result of a billion dollar research project. These species of alien are so powerful and advanced in ways we can't ignore, that I was tasked with using the genetic remains found in a severed hand in 1990, and a retrieved frozen egg in 2004 to produce an enhanced human hybrid for each species. We believed this to be an answer to our next stage in evolution, or at least an answer to the threat of either of these aliens from hunting our kind."

"Oh dear lord." Hetta held her chest, looking at the picture of the women. "They are alien human hybrids..."

"And they've escaped." Bonnie sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. "Right?"

"...correct." Jenkins pressed her clicker again and showed them a security video. Both women were in opposite cages, Alice pacing and panting, Eve seemingly sleeping with her back against the cage door. A man in a lab coat and holding a tray with two bowls of food on it walked over to Alice first. He shooed her back from the door, then slid the bowl into the cage. She dived on it, shoving what looked like porridge into her mouth eagerly. Next the scientist seemed to speak to Eve, but she didn't move. He then poked her back, but she wriggled like a tired cat. He reached over her body to put the bowl down throw the bars, and everyone saw what came next. Eve sprang into action, pulling on his arm and clawing at his face and neck. He died in seconds, and the girl reached through the bars to pull at the various pockets he had. Out came the keys, open went her cage door, and off went Eve. Just as she passed Alice, she turned and stared into her eyes. "Their respective alien species hate each other. We thought at this point that Eve would just leave." The dark haired woman threw the keys into Alice's cage, nodded, and ran off towards the doors. "The fact that she sympathised with Alice shows she has some sort of capacity for human emotion. Something that had to come from her human side. This in theory makes her less dangerous than a pure Xenomorph, as she _may_ feel guilt and remorse."

"Not fucking likely. She didn't look twice at the guard she mauled." Toni offered.

"Here here. That bitch is psycho." Bonnie added.

They watched as Alice used the keys, and ran towards the other side of the room, using a different escape route to Eve.

"The fact that the girls used different escape routes shows that they either thought ahead and believed it to be harder for us to catch them if they were fighting their way out of the compound on two fronts, or Alice didn't want to risk going after Eve. Like I said, their species are natural enemies."

"But they're human too." Emma looked up from her trembling hands, her hazel eyes heavy in thought. "Are they stable?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear. No chance of them naturally running down then. You must have had quite a few trials to get a stable Xeno-hybrid. Human proteins are so prone to denaturing in acidic conditions, which are necessary I assume for the Xenomorph part of her genome to function."

"And that is why you are here doctor. I will give you all my research to help you produce a successful sedative for each of the girls, and normal drugs either don't work, don't work long enough, or are fatal. I also want you to be my link to the team."

"Here's a question." Private Hernandez held her chin in thought. "Why can't you and all your high powered friends just bring them in?"

"I'm too close." The first sign of the human under all that science came through. "When I said I was tasked into making them...I mean I also raised them."

"Wow wow wow. Back up. You're their _mom?_ "

"Yes. Literally." Jenkins blinked slowly, gathering herself. "The human part of their genomes came from me. And I raised them. For 20 years I lived with those girls in the laboratory." She wouldn't cry, but you could see her fighting away tears. "I taught them to read. How to dress themselves. I watched TV with them read them bed time stories when they were younger. Our recent bed time conversations have been about boys...a few more days and I would have been given permission to make them some male counter parts. So they wouldn't be lonely..." Jenkins pinched her brow. "I'll never be allowed to now. The company don't trust me to do whatever is necessary to contain the threat. And they are right. However, if I'm not allowed the head the mission, I can at least ensure the right people do. You are it ladies. You are my alpha team. You have the lives of my...of Alice and Eve in your hands." Jenkins tucked a stray ashy blonde hair behind her ear and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "I don't beg. If I did however, it would be for you to do everything you could to bring them in unharmed. Or at least alive. Extermination should be a last, _last_ resort."

"Of course." Hetta got to her feet and held her hand out. "We'll do our best to bring them back to you doctor."

"Thank you Dr Klaus." Jenkins coughed into her hand and ignored the blonde's hand. "And the rest of you." the nodded and muttered their agreement. "Good. Now-"

"I don't know how to bring a target in alive..." Noriko looked genuinely worried. "None of my toys will be useful..."

"Oh Miss Shinju. You will be given the _best_ new toys to play with. Now, let me get you to the coach. We have had a sighting across the state in Nevada."

"Nevada?" Noriko cheered up. "You mean one of your babies has fled to Vegas? Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"


	2. Settling in

The coach was luxurious enough to belong to a rock star. It was huge! There were beds in the back of the coach with curtains for privacy, seating in the middle with large plasma TV's and consoles to play on. the front had a small lab to the left, and a kitchen to the right, before the driver's area. Dr Jenkins and her mobile lab was in a blacked out coach behind them, and she stayed in regular contact with them as they hit the road. They were all, (even Dr Emma O'Reilly) given extensive files and videos to watch about predators, the Xenomorph, and Eve and Alice. After the first day on the coach the girls all sat on their beds at the back of the coach with the curtains open, sharing notes.

"So these girls aren't going to be easy to track." Bonnie and Hetta were swapping ideas. Hetta tracked predatory animals, and Bonnie hunted renegade humans. These girls were technically both.

"I agree Hetta. If these were two run away young women, I'd say that I'd need details on their reasons to run. Find out where they had family, money, lovers or children. Or even someone they want to get back at. I'd expect them to be good at hiding in plain sight, and only become violent as a last resort."

"Whereas predatory creatures tend to hide back from their pray. They'd have some sort of physical of behavioural adaptation to allow them to do this. Such as camouflage, or the ability to get close to their pray without being seen. Such as pretending to be dead, or imitate an inanimate object. Even just straight forward hiding in tall grass or under a pile of dirt. Predators will hide, choose a target and strike. And then there is the type of predator. Alice will have strong predator urges to hunt. She may be very aggressive and very open about it. she'll enjoy it."

"But because she is in a human suit without the tech to help her hide, she will be too easy to capture and grab if she does that. she might even get herself killed if she tries to hunt the wrong person." Bonnie sighed. "As a human woman who's lived a captive life, she'll be distraught. She'll be looking for safety, maybe even someone to care for her. acceptance."

"And if she isn't accepted, she could react violently." Hetta sipped from her can of diet coke. "So many contradictions. How can we predict how a predatory human-alien hybrid will behave once introduced into a closed ecosystem? When this happens with a foreign species it usually results in the death of the native species. Like the signal crayfish and the white clawed crayfish. The signal crayfish was brought into Europe because they were the only species to resist the crayfish plague. They later turned out to be carriers and had a devastating effect on the native species. Not only that-" Hetta counted off her fingers. "But they are bigger, stronger, more aggressive, reproduce quicker, produce larger broods, live longer, and have proven to have a devastating effect on the natural levels of biodiversity in other species as well."

"Damn. Poor white fish-"

"White clawed crayfish." Hetta corrected her with a chuckle. "Oh!" she crushed the empty can in her hand and blinked at Bonnie. "Xenomorphs are pack animals, aren't they? Will Eve have abandonment issues because she's alone? Will she be overly aggressive to compensate?"

"Do predators hunt in packs?"

"Not always." Antonia joined in the conversation, looking from a file to the two listening women. "According to the information on the predators' hunting patterns and their sightings, sometimes they hunt alone, sometimes in packs. When they've been in packs they have sometimes worked as a team, sometimes it appears to be all for one." She closed the file and cocked her head to one side. "going back to Eve, will she think of herself as a drone, or a queen? If she's a Queen, will she want to..."

"Oh dear lord." Bonnie held her stomach and felt herself going pale. "That's gross. Won't the men notice the huge honking tail?"

"If her drive to breed is strong enough, she may not give them a choice." Hetta put the crushed can down and they all felt remorse for the poor imaginary guy she forced herself on. "Oh no, is she fertile?!"

"I dunno. Doc?" Bonnie shouted across to Emma, who was scanning her books at light speed. She was trying to learn all of Dr Jenkins' sequencing data as quickly as she could. Like a super sponge.

Bonnie however, did _not_ like being ignored. "Oi! Doc!"

Whack, pillow to the face.

"Wh-what?" Emma blinked herself back to reality. "S-sorry?"

"Is Eve fertile?" the bounty hunter looked at the stunned women, and could practically see the excitement/horror dancing in her hazel orbs.

"Why would that matter?" Emma flipped through the pages to find out regardless. "Oh, do you think she'll breed?"

"She might do. The life cycle seems to be a major drive for Xenomorph Queens, and if she thinks she's a queen...?"

"She...oh...she is fertile...but..."

"But what?" Hetta started gathering her files and putting the stack on her bedside table. "Is it a 'but she needs something specific and therefore can't breed'? please say this poor child won't be a slave to her sex drive and-"

"She might be a slave to it, but she can't successfully breed unless..." Emma snapped her book shut and seemed to be trying not to hurl. "Just a minute." She opened a second book, flipped through the pages, skimmed down the part of the genome she needed to- "Oh dear lord!" she snapped that book shut too, and pushed them both onto her bedside table.

"Well don't keep us in suspense doc." Bonnie lifted another pillow when she didn't answer. "Paging Doctor friggin' O'Reilly."

"They can't breed with humans." Emma physically shuddered all over.

"So no breeding then. Good." Bonnie beamed a grin...only to realise what that meant... "...oh...you mean...with other-"

"Hybrids or the original alien species? Yes indeed. We should be safe with Eve. I doubt there are any male Xenomorphs on this planet, if any at all. I'm more concerned with Alice."

"Why?" Toni shuffled under her covers and appeared just about ready to sleep for a week. "Is she likely to get some alien booty?"

"Nice." Bonnie chuckled. "But I think the point _is_ that there _could_ be predators around for her to breed with. But would they even want to breed with her?"

"In which case, she'll get herself killed."

"So we are basically on a rescue mission then?" Noriko was already in bed and had let everyone think she was asleep for the last hour. "They are more at risk of getting their confused mix species asses killed than getting their freak on? great. The _opposite_ to what I'm trained for."


	3. Enter Alice

The lights were so pretty. She'd never seen anything like this before. These flashed, and they were in different patterns, and different colours!

"Watch it!" Alice stood in a dark alley way and turned to look down at a human male. He smelt like urine and alcohol. He dared to push at her leg! Pathetic male. She grabbed a dustbin lid and smacked him around the head with it. He fell to his side and didn't move. Alice watched with big bright amber eyes as dark blood pooled out of the crater on his head. She looked down at his body. it was so fragile. So weak. he wasn't worthy.

She sighed and held her arms. She shivered, looking down at her dirty hospital robe. She grabbed it, pulling it off with one hand like it was paper. Alice stood there, naked, and dropped to a squat over the dead hobo. She sniffed his body, then searched it. She found his wallet.

"Money..." she looked at the green bills and remembered what her mother taught her about money. You could exchange money for things. Buy things. Pay for things. "...need clothes."

"Oh my-fuck-sugar are you ok?" Alice slowly cocked her head to one side, her brown dreads falling messily around her face. Her amber eyes stared through the gap in her dreads to look at the woman.

She is weak. she isn't worthy. She was also very oddly dressed. There were pink spikes coming out of her heels and they clattered as she ran towards her. "Oh sweetie, did that motherfucker try to rape you!?" Alice slowly stood before the human woman, who was a foot smaller than her. she held the wallet with one hand and cocked her head to one side as she sized the woman up. She had a very tight looking piece of black leather wrapped around her body. It looked like one of the dresses her mother wore, but this was made of leather, was so short it hardly hid her knickers and nipples. The human had long blonde hair and blue eyes. "That bastard!" the human woman screamed, giving the dead human male a kick for good measure.

 _She must be on my side._ "Come on honey, here, put my coat on." She handed Alice a long black rain coat. "I'll get you out of this nasty alley." The human smiled at her...it was nice.

"I need clothes." Her voice was husky and she felt horse. "I need water."

"No worries sugar-buns. I've got all that back at my place." Alice sniffed the coat first, nodded, and then put it on. it came half way down her thighs. "Damn you've got legs that go forever. come on sweetie."

"My name is Alice." She allowed the woman with pink lips to button up the coat and hold her arm. She followed the woman into the streets and looked up with a wide mouth at the moving lights! "...so pretty..."

"A tourist huh? Well you haven't seen _nothing_ yet! My name is Cindy by the way."

"...pleased to meet you Cindy."

She was huddled around the back of a nightclub, down another dark alley and through the back door. There were lots of girls wearing very little and adjusting their nipple tassels, thongs and makeup in long mirrors. Several of the girls noticed Cindy and asked 'who the hell is that bitch?'.

"She's with me. I'll be down in ten!" Cindy hurried Alice upstairs and into one of many small apartments above the club. To an average person it would have looked very basic. A one bedroom ensuite apartment, with enough room for a wardrobe, a single bed, a window above it, a dresser and then the bathroom. "Well this is my place. it's not much but-"

"Is this all yours?" Alice looked into the mirror and gasped. "...is that...me?" she held her face and felt tears brim in her eyes.

"Alice, are you telling me you've never seen your reflection before?" Cindy saw the honest look on the girl's face and felt herself getting close to tears. "Oh lord you're filthy. Where did you come from?"

"A cage." Alice leaned closer to the mirror and saw various pictures pinned around the outside of it. Cindy was in most of them, smiling and dressed up with other women. Some of which she saw downstairs.

"A...oh sweetie."

"My name is Alice!" she growled for a few seconds, then closed her mouth. "I am very dirty."

"Right." Cindy gulped, forming her own picture of what a tortured life this woman has left. Maybe she ran away from someone's basement? There are some sickos in Vegas. "Well, stay in here until I finish my shift downstairs. I'll get in trouble if I'm caught with you up here."

"And I'll be forced to leave?"

"Well, for a start!" Cindy chuckled nervously, fussing over her blonde hair to make it look sexier. "Now help yourself to the shower to get cleaned up. You'll get hot water for about ten minutes though before it goes cold. Water from the sink is drinkable, and if you're hungry and can't wait until I get back, I have snacks in a box under my bed." Alice watched with her head cocked to one side as Cindy kicked off her shoes and shoved them into her wardrobe. She unzipped her dress and threw it onto the bottom of the bed. The hybrid started looking the human up and down, and looking at the shape of her body compared to hers. _I'm taller. I'm stronger. My breasts are larger. She is softer...should I be soft?_ Alice unbuttoned the coat and dropped it to the floor. _My skin is firm._ She touched herself. _Should it be firm?_

"Are you pretty Cindy?" the woman jerked, mid way through pulling on a flapper themed fringe dress. She turned and blinked at the tall woman she'd rescued, holding her flat middle and stood in the buff. "I don't look like you."

"Oh sweetie. I want to help you get through the shit you've been through, but if I'm not downstairs like now, I'm dead honey. Wait here, and I'll be back after the show." She finished strapping herself in and putting a fastener on. "Help yourself to the wardrobe. If I have anything that fits you...oh, and for the record, you look pretty hot under all that dirt honey." She winked and hurried out of the room.

Alice stared at he closed door for a moment, then turned to walk into the small bathroom. It looked like the one she was escorted to on the base, and she quickly learned that it worked just the same way. _Cindy said that it only gives ten minutes of hot water. I need to be efficient._

She worked quickly to soak herself and shampoo her dreads. Then her body. she managed it in just over three minutes, shivering as the water turned cold as she turned off the taps. She shook her body in the bathroom before spotting a towel. It wouldn't wrap around her but she managed to dry herself well enough. Just as Alice was about to open the wardrobe she noticed an image of herself in the mirror.

Now she was clean and could push her shoulder length dreads behind her, she could really see herself. Her skin was a dark honey colour with what looked like cheetah markings framing her face and neck, running down the dip of her spine and ending at her coxes. The mottled pattern hugged her shoulders and ran down her arms and the backs of her hands. she lifted up her arms and saw the pattern start just under her armpits, ghost into the dip of her waist and curve over her hips. she was lithe, but she had a slight curve going on. the pattern stretched down the outsides and insides of her thighs, running along either side of her feet. Alice giggled. she knew she had the markings, but she'd never had a mirror to admire them in. Smiling and looking in the mirror made her fangs stand out. She touched them with the pads of her fingers and she giggled.

With a smile across her fangs she opened the wardrobe and sorted through skanky outfit after skanky outfit. Finally she found a green thong that fit and nothing else.

That's why when Cindy returned from her shift she found Alice wearing nothing but the thong and surrounded by empty chocolate wrappers.

"Wow sweetie...you got the munchies or something?"

"I am very hungry. I drank from your sink. I've eaten all your snacks. Do you have any meat? Or any clothes that fit?"

"Hmmmm." Cindy looked her new friend up and down once and sighed. "I see. At least the thong fits. And you clean up well Alice." She poked her arm. "You are one hot mama!" Alice beamed a smile, only to stop when she noticed Cindy staring at her. "Wow...you're chompers are..."

"Dental defect." She lied. Alice couldn't afford to lose Cindy yet. She needed meat and clothes.

"No worries. Nice tattoos by the way." Cindy pointed to her birth marks and she nodded. Another lie. "Ok honey, I have an idea. Now don't be insulted, but there is only one person I know who might have clothes that fit you. wait here..."

Again Alice was alone and waiting. This time wasn't as long as the last time however. When Cindy returned she brought another person with her. a man. Alice jumped to her feet and started snarling, ready for action.

"Oh damn sweetie. Where did you find this wild thang? And do they do a male version?"

"Dita, play nice. This girl was held in a cage and then nearly raped! She's good all considered." Alice watched Cindy hit the black human male and he seemed to submit to her. _he is not worthy._ Alice looked the man up and down and wondered if he knew he was a man. He was dressed in very big golden stilettos and matching halter neck dress. He wore a blonde wig and pained his lips red. _Odd._

"Oh honey, I'm all nice." He giggled and gave Alice a wink. "Well I am jealous. That is the body _I_ want."

"You can't have it. it's mine." Alice narrowed her eyes on this 'Dita', who just chuckled at her and handed her a bag.

"I thought I was bringing clothes for a fellow sista, so ignore the cock straps and man bras. I think the blue outfit would suit you."

Alice sniffed the bag and pulled out all the articles of clothing with fascination dancing in her eyes. She picked out 'the blue outfit' and moved it around in her fingers. "Oh honey, let me help you."

With a lot of grunting, snarling and blushing Alice was strapped in. It was a dress...of sorts. It first tied in a long ribbon around her neck, cupped the outsides of her breasts and pushed them together, crossing over her chest. Then it crossed around her body in a crisscross pattern until it tied into a silver disc above her backside. The disc was attached to a short blue skirt with slits up the sides. It was elasticised so it stayed in place. he then gave her a blue pair of shoes, which she refused after taking one step in them. "Oh come on! they complete the-"

"No." She bared her fangs at Dita, making him back off.

"Ok sugar, but I think you need to cut back on the caffeine, and see a dentist."

"Dita! Nice!" Cindy punched the confused male and Alice calmed down. It wasn't worth her time putting this man in his place if he was beaten so easily by tiny little Cindy. "Ok, now how about that meat you were after?"

"Oh? I know _just_ the place."

Alice followed the two humans out and back into the wondrous streets. Was all of earth like this? Her mother had told her lots, but not enough for her to have a place she wanted to go and see now she was free. This place, this Las Vegas, seemed perfect for her. everyone was so strange she didn't stand out at all. There were humans that offered you sex in the street! Mother said sex was a private thing, and yet here they are, getting into cars in public to have sex!

It was dark, and yet everyone looked wide awake. Some were clearly intoxicated. Mother had told her about the evils of intoxication...

...but it looked fun...

"Ok girlfriend." Dita brought them to a stop at a small burger stand. "Hello burnie-burnie-burnie baaaaaby."

"No Dita. No money, no burgers." Alice looked at a middle aged man and thought how weak he looked. No one was worthy...

"But Burnie I can pay you with some Dita von sugar, if you know what I'm saying."

"No."

"But-"

"No."

Alice turned away from the conversation and instead stared down the street. There were loud noises coming from down the street. Loud bangs, shouting, screaming, explosions!

"Shit! Mafia are out again. Come on bitches, lets get our asses under cover!" Dita grabbed both Cindy and Alice's hands. The Hybrid pushed him off her and snarled in his face when he tried to grab her again. "Fine! Get your fine ass shot!"

"No! Alice! You'll get yourself killed!" Cindy tried to fight against Dita's arms, but he lifted her off the ground and ran, stilettos and all, with her over his shoulder. For a moment Alice wondered if he was worthy after all, before she heard another explosion. Much much closer this time.

Her eyes widened, her grin widened and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She took herself towards the chaos and didn't stop until she came up against a police blockade. People with cameras were trying to get the police to answer questions about the shoot out, or get over the line.

"Listen, we're trying to contain the situation to the best of our abilities, but the mob is pinned down in front of their restaurant. They've killed a CI and a detective already, with more officers reported as being injured. We need you to stay back and-hay lady! What the fucking do you think you're-"

Alice was gone. She jumped up onto the top of the van and ran full pelt towards the sound of gun shots. She skidded to a stop behind a police car, and behind two very stunned officers.

"Wha? Who the fu-get out of here!" one of them tried to wave her off, but she back handed them both in one swipe, knocking them out.

That felt good.

She took their batons and enjoyed the feel of them in her hands. they extended with the press of a button, and she giggled with glee. Peering over the car she saw that the other cops were behind cars and shields facing the restaurant, and the mobsters had put up similar defences protecting the front door. She saw an alley way to her right and grinned even wider.

Alice wasn't thinking. She was feeling.

She felt every pulse of her heart as she thundered behind the restaurant and struggled to calm it as she pressed her ear to the back door.

No sound. She slowly creaked it open, and stopped every few inches to make sure no one had noticed her attempt to get inside. Once the door was open she peered inside. It was the kitchen, and there was no one inside. This was too easy! She lowered her body to an almost squat and slowly entered the kitchen.

She dropped to a full squat when the door to the kitchen opened, and she hid behind one of the cookers.

 _Calm. I must be calm_.

"What? Who left the back door open?" the voice was male. "I better check it out then." The sound of a gun clicking sang to her ears. _he was worthy!_ She heard his footsteps coming closer and to her right, so she crouched, ready for action. As soon as his leg came into view she used all the pent up energy in her thighs to propel her body forward and tackle the human male to the ground.

She didn't think. She acted.

The batons she held came down like she was beating a drum. His hands only lashed out for a moment, before his head was pasted into the floor. She grinned, so pleased with herself. _But why...?_ she looked to the doorway leading to the restaurant. _They might have heard that. I made sure not to shout or laugh, but he screamed..._

"Hay? Vincent? Where you at?"

"That bum! Now is not the time for a dam cigarette. Let's go drag his ass back inside."

 _Oh, two of them...this could be tricky..._ Alice gripped 'Vincent' with her hands and dragged him out of view quietly. "What was that?" she cursed herself mentally and then lifted her batons ready in her crouched position. Could she take two at once?

Something told her to drop the batons...so she did. She let them roll from her fingertips and across the tiled floor. "There, it came from over there."

The sound of clattering came from her throat, slow, curious and excited all at once.

They came upon her and she simply stood. They clearly weren't expecting a tall beautiful woman and stared at her in shock. This gave her enough time to back hand the guns from their hands and grab their necks in each hand. As they kicked and begged for mercy she held them up off the ground, and squeezed.

Click, click. Both necks snapped. She stared at them for a moment, as if unsure she'd done it, and dropped their bodies to the floor. Alice cocked her head to one side and blinked her amber eyes at them.

They are so weak. they were armed sure...but still. It wasn't as fun as it should be.

Ok, new tactic.

Alice walked over to the doors leading to the restaurant and saw the speaker system. It was connected to a radio, and she pressed it with a bloody finger. Something sang through the air, something called my songs know what you did in the dark...she liked it. power walking to the music she pushed the doors open and bit her bottom lip.

20 heavily armed gangsters turned and stared at her in shock. She put her hands above her head and skipped into the middle of the room, her body swaying and grinding to the music. Her head moved with her shoulders, her stomach moving like a belly dancer.

 _Where did I learn to do this? Television?_

Regardless the gangsters were distracted. She even grabbed a jug of water and poured it down her neck, feeling their eyes watch it flow over her breasts and down her agile body.

The smell of their arousal hit her first, then she moved in perfect harmony to the chorus. She picked up a round silver tray, brought it behind her with her hand and then swung it forward, sending it like a boomerang. It hit 15 of them, making them grab their hands in pain as they lost their weapons. The rest of them got wise and opened fire. Grabbing human bodies Alice used them as bullet shields and moved so fast they couldn't catch her. at one point she ran up half the wall and flipped in the air so she landed on two of them, breaking their necks in the fall.

Oh, then she lashed out and sent her fist into the stomach of someone she'd later learn was their leader. Her hand gripped something long and hard, with bumpy bits along the edges. She gripped it hand and kicked the body away from her, yanking it out in one go.

The mobster's head hung from the end of it. this felt right!

She ducked behind an over turned table just in time to avoid being shot for her troubles and giggled with glee. This was more like it! she could actually die! Brilliant!

Panting, Alice grabbed a knife and angled it to look around the table. It was then she realised...she wasn't the only one hunting these gangsters. Snarling with rage she ran out from the table and grabbed one of the humans out of the way of a long blade and threw him so hard against the wall, the ribs puncturing his lungs and heart would kill him in minutes.

"These are mine." She snarled, the spine and skull dangling from one hand, and the knife in the other.

They locked eyes for a moment, before they had to move.

"You mother fuckers! I'll get you fucking mother fuckers!" one of the humans threw a chainsaw around just missed them. Not caring whatever _he_ did, Alice rolled under the snarling blade and behind the human. She whipped round and forced the dinner knife through his neck, killing him instantly. As the body fell to the floor and the chainsaw's safety stopped it, she looked around to see _he_ had vanished, as had half of the bodies. She snarled, then noticed police were making their way through the front door. She turned on her heel and ran through the kitchen and the back door.

The sound of people on walkie talkies filling the alley way at either side drilled through her head with alarm.

 _Shit shit shit. I'm going to get caught!_

Did she fight? Or run?

A stone hit her head and she turned with a hiss on her heels to look up nervously.

There he was, waving at her. ooooo she didn't like him. this was her...whatever it was and he had no right to-shit, she could see the shadows of people getting closer. She hissed to herself and threaded the spine down the bust of her top, the skull sitting ontop of her cleavage. She then put her hands at either side of the restaurant and alley wall, then a foot at either side, and shuffled up that damn gap like she was spider man. Once at the top she crawled onto the roof and looked for him.

There he was, waving at her, again. This time he was on the neighbouring roof. He still waved at her to follow him. she turned to see houses at the other side only went on a few roofs before a nice open junction. Damn, no escape the other way...

Hating every second of it Alice followed that infuriating man from one roof to the next. Very soon they were out of range of the helicopters and police officers. No danger of being caught now. she slowed her chase of him, waiting until she thought he wouldn't notice, and she dropped down an alley way. Landing with only a soft splash she walked through the darkness of the streets and wondered where she should go next.

Her stomach rumbled and she held it under the red slimy spine.

 _So hungry...need...meat..._ licking her fangs she caught her eyes looking up at an old bill board. There was a butchers nearby...and at this time of night there would be no one there...

She used the back alleys and smiled only when she found the back door to the butchers shop. She could smell the meat from here...Alice was about to step out from the shadows and reach for the doorknob, when she was grabbed from behind. She was thrown against the brick wall with enough force to wind her and cause her amber eyes to blink a few times before she could focus on anything again.

Now she had to look at him, and this time he wasn't just a blurred outline in her field of vision. He'd exposed himself, and...he seemed...beautiful...


	4. Winning Alice

Alice blushed when she looked at him. Same height as her, but bulkier. His eyes were amber, just like hers, and his dreads were short but feathered in length around his mask like a mane. the mask itself was silver and had three claw marks across it. Ornamental spikes framed the high brow of it, and the eyes stared into hers. Alice dragged her eyes from his to look him up and down. Through the meshing she could see his skin was a coffee colour, with dark brown tiger stripes framing his shoulders, arms and sides, reaching with their dark tips to caress his muscular torso and pecks. She looked to his hands, and saw the same pattern there as well. Ignoring his hold on her biceps she raised her hands up to touch his skin under the meshing. It was firm. Like hers. He started sniffing at the air through his mask, then snapped his head to stare at her. Alice admired his silver shoulder guards, dragging her fingers over them, touching the skin of his pecks again and going lower to touch the stomach plate. He released her arms to grab her wrists instead.

Alice giggled. she could see a bulge forming under his brown loin cloth and it...excited her.

He was making all sorts of clicking noises, but she paid it no heed. She pushed through his grip, something he clattered angrily about, to feel one of his dreads. She smiled, finding it to feel just like one of hers. As if along the same pattern of thought he grabbed one of hers and felt it, making the same realisation as she did.

Alice was part Predator.

Alice had known she was half alien, but she never knew what that type of alien looked like. Now she did. Well...nearly...

Desperate to know she reached for his mask, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them against the wall above her head. He roared at her, and she just watched him, utterly fascinated.

He hissed something to one side, and looked to her chest. The skull.

He made one move to touch it, and she went into auto pilot. she roared in his face and pushed his chest so hard and slammed into the wall behind him. they were still in arms reach of each other, but the point had been made. _Don't touch my trophy._

This had the opposite effect than Alice was expecting. He wasn't mad, he was...chuckling? his shoulders were bouncing and the clattering and clicking seemed merry enough.

"If you're going to laugh at me you can go fuck yourself." She snarled and stormed off towards the butchers.

"You really can't speak a word of Yautja, can you?"

Ooo, that stopped her in her tracks. "Interested in me now?" slowly Alice turned, the spine swaying, slick against her stomach as she turned to look at him.

"...yes." she turned to face him properly. "I'm Alice."

"No you're not." He beckoned her with his hand, and pointed to the rooftops. "Thats an Ooman name, and you're no simple Ooman."

"You mean human? It's pronounced-" he climbed up the wall with his hands and feet like he had a rocket up his ass, and in seconds he was stood on the ledge and looking down at her. "...right. my name _is_ Alice." She hissed, scaling the wall quite a bit slower than he did. "What's your name?"

"Well I suppose in this tongue it would be K'Tan." He pressed buttons on his silver gauntlet and shimmered out of sight. For some reason though...she could still see him. it was blurry, like the outline of his body with different colours in it. "Can you still see me?"

"Well...yeah...you're mostly red now though."

"Both infra-red and Ooman light vision. Interesting." He waved her over. "We need to get out of sight. Follow me." She didn't.

"I don't trust you." she seethed. The thought of needing this man was infuriating. "You tried to take my-"

"If you were Yautja by blood I knew you'd attack me for trying to take your prize. I had to know." She huffed, following him anyway.

Several rooftops later they were at an old warehouse. Just when she thought she might finally get to rest her feet he went and told her to follow him...down into the sewers...

"No." She put her foot down. "No. I'm not going into the sewers. I don't trust you." K'tan turned off his cloak and sighed at her.

"You've said that already. Listen you, you don't really have a choice here. Come willingly, or I'll-"

"Or you'll want?" she snarled at him, ignoring her hunger and wanting to sedate her blood lust instead.

"I'll knock you out and drag you onto my ship."

"Ha." She lowered her stance and waited. "Try it."

"Really?" he chuckled and folded his arms over his chest. "You realise you are a strange hybrid of Ooman and Yautja, can't even carry out a hunt without nearly getting yourself killed, so much so I had to jump in and take most of the Oomans out for you, and you're challenging an Elite lone hunter. You have no chance."

"You realise that means _nothing_ to me, right?"

K'tan stared at her for a moment, then dropped his arms to his sides. She watched him roll his shoulders and crack his neck to either side. Ok, was he _really_ going to-

Oh shit he was!

K'tan pulled a very short fat stick from his side, pressed a button, and it extended into a very long pointy stick. Made of metal. And stained with blood.

"Allow me to educate you kid." He lowered his body and started charging at her.

So in this situation, Alice did the only logical thing. Surrender? Oh no.

Run.

She cackled with laughter, taking a calculated risk that all that weaponry and armour was going to make him slower than her, and for the most part she was right. Running through back streets and alleyways she avoided people, a trick that she learnt straight away, and heard the tell tale sound of a very heavy man following her on the rooftops above her.

This was fun! Alice was grinning as she jumped over rubbish bags and sleeping hobos.

At some point though, she needed to lose this guy. Mother always told her that one of the aliens she was made of would try and capture her, and turns out she was right on the money. There was no _way_ she was going to trade one cage for another one. She'd only just tasted freedom. Nope, no dice.

There was a problem. While ever she had her trophy, she couldn't walk out into the streets without being noticed. Oh, and the blood. but that was going to be the only way she would get away from him. in a crowd.

It was hard, but she pulled the trophy from her bust, turned on her heels and shouted up to him.

"Hay K'tan! Catch this for me would you?" seeing the path his form was taking she hurtled the skull and spine up and to her great relief, he caught it.

"Now I'll catch you!" he barked down at her, seemingly enjoying this game of cat a mouse as well.

"Game over kitty!" she shouted, and turned to sprint into the main street.

Perfect, a paint party. She'd seen these on TV. Everyone was covered in paint and drinking in a procession, so she slipped into the middle of the crowd and pointed to someone with a can of green paint. "Hit me." The woman who had no cloths on _at all_ , and completely covered in different coloured paints happily obliged. She got different humans to dowse her in different coloured paints so he couldn't just look for the blue outfit with blood on the front.

After a full two hours of pretending to be drunk and dancing in sticky paint the finally felt safe enough to leave the procession. She slipped into an alley way and hid behind a building.

She hid there for 15 minutes before she relaxed. _Lost him_. she looked through the window of the building she'd taken refuge in, and realised it was a 24 hour gym. Perfect. She made sure no one was in the basement first, then punched the glass. It shattered well enough, and she didn't even get a scratch. Careful not to accidentally gut herself getting through the window, she slipped inside, transferring paint to the frame as she did so. Next she broke the lock off the basement door, and opened it. up a pair of stairs, through another door...

...it was opposite the showers. Perfect!

She slipped inside and was glad to see not many people liked to go to the gym at this time of the night. she had a nice long shower, stripping from her dirty drag dress and thong, using some shampoo on her brown dreads that someone must have left behind. Once she was back to her honey tones she smoothed her hands down her dark brown spotted pattern. _If a predator with stripes has a baby with one with spots, what would-_ she stopped her thoughts as she heard the door to the showers open. _Shit._ She looked around and saw that there was a door at the other end of the showers, but she'd have to step out of them first to get to it. leaving the shower running she crouched behind the low tiled wall and listened hard.

Heavy footsteps. _Shit_.

She heard them coming closer...closer...then they stopped. She huddled closer to the wall, closing her eyes and listening hard for any noise. _Where the fuck did he...wait...that smell..._ she slowly lifted her head to look up.

 _Cocky fucking bastard!_ He was crouched on the wall, elbows handing off his knees as he watched her. triumph oozed off him in waves. _Bastard_. She resisted the urge to snarl at him and teasingly stood up, pressing her front against the wall. once fully stood this meant she had to wrap her arms around her chest to keep them covered and she looked up into his mask.

"You know, I can't see your face...but I think you smirking at me."

"Funny that." he clattered. "I am." His short dreads swayed around his mask.

"You know, I'm naked here."

"I've noticed." His amber eyes dropped to look over her shoulders and down at her ass. Damn it looked firm.

"I think...I _think_ you smell horny." She blinked up at him, smirking back playfully. He returned his amber eyes to hers and leaned down. So close he could have pressed the mouth of his mask to hers if he wanted to.

"I _know_ you smell horny. Then again, it _is_ that time of year."

"Is it?" Alice had him in just the right position. All hunched over like that. how could he possibly balance if she just pushed him over? He'd get a nasty bump to his head too. "What exactly do your kind _do_ at this time of year?"

"If you were blooded I'd show you. hybrid or not."

"really?" she leaned up and licked the mouth piece of his mask. His amber eyes half lidded and she knew this was her moment. "Wrong answer."

She pushed him with both hands so he slammed into the far wall. she didn't even wait to watch him land in a dazed heap as she ran out of the showers and into the changing room.

Ooo! Someone left their pink tank tennis dress out! she swiped it as she ran past the bench and pulled it over her head as she reached the other side of the changing rooms.

She just got it over her backside as she entered the reception. "Help! That monster tried to rape me!" she screamed past the security guards, who ran back towards K'tan, guns raised.

Perfect. Anything to slow him down would help her. she almost sent herself spinning into the road with the speed she turned on her heels and sent herself running down the street.

 _Right, where to hide? He's going to come out of there very soon after killing those guards, so I need somewhere to hide now I'm not leaving paint traces behind me._

She ran and ran and ran and ran until she saw her meal ticket.

She was headed out of town and back into the desert along a set of tracks. K'tan might be fast, but he isn't faster than a train. She saw it waiting by a service station, and it was just pulling away. If she could catch that train, she could get away from him.

Her lungs hurt, her stomach snarled with hunger, and her heart beat hammered against her chest as she forced herself to run faster than she ever had before. She just managed to grab onto the back railing and put her feet onto the bottom bar of the safety gate, when she heard the mightiest roar tear through the air. It shocked her body into getting a second wind, and she pulled herself over the ledge and turned to look for him.

Sure enough, his red and orange outline was coming for her. "Come on, speed up speed up speed up."

Was she speaking to the train? Or to K'tan? At that point either could happen and she'd find it thrilling. This was the thing of dreams to Alice. Running for her life, fighting worthy pray. Why would she ever give this up? "What? Too slow?" she barked off the back of the train, grinning so wide her fangs were on show. "Guess you guys aren't so mighty then after all?!" laugher erupted from her chest in deep husky tones, breaking in places and clicking instead. She'd won! She'd actually won!

The train was speeding up and he was starting to get further and further away. "Hay K'tan? Eat this!" she lifted up the pink dress and flashed him her pussy, then turned and waggled her ass at him. as elegantly as she could she smoothed the dress back down and turned to grin some more at the retreating form of her would be captor.

Only to realise he had vanished. "Oh? The train must be going faster than-"

Thud. The roof above her head shuddered with the unpleasant sound of a certain predator landing on it. "Shit." She turned and kicked the door down and ran inside the service trolley. To her great dismay the sound of mirroring footsteps above her followed her every moment. "Fuck!" she didn't feel so arrogant now. she was exhausted! Her escape route had just become her prison.

The next carriage had people on it and they were sleeping. Some stirred as she fled past them, most didn't. The next carriage was the same, and the next contained all the baggage.

Oh shit. She panted, trying to listen for any sound other than her pounding heart.

Nope. Not a sound. That was worse than hearing his footsteps. At least you knew where the bastard was.

 _Forward or back? forward or back? maybe he's listening for me? Maybe I should stand still and he'll_ -

Bang. The door behind her slammed shut and she threw herself full pelt for the far door. She saw him too late, digging her feet into the ground only to stumble smack bang into his chest. Alice pushed back off him quickly and stared at him with disbelief. "How the fuck did you do that?" he stalked towards her, shoulders bouncing with mirth as he chuckled.

"I chained the door closed from outside, from the roof top. I knew that would flush you forward and I made sure I was here to catch you."

K'tan stalked towards her. His aroused musk was set to ten, lusty amber eyes heavy with intent and his powerful form seemed to lull her body into wanting whatever punishment he had in mind for her. "Easy really."

"Oh really?" she put her hands on her hips and backed away from him. yes he _said_ he chained the back door. But maybe that was easy enough to kick through? "I have to say you've done a shoddy job of getting me down into those sewers. Did you notice we're on a train? Going in the opposite direction to you ship?"

"I did. And I've instructed my ship to auto-locate me in stealth mode."

Shit.

"Well aren't you organised?" she gulped.

"If you'd have just gotten on the damn ship in the first place then I wouldn't have had to chase you." He snapped and reached for her, only for her to side step out of the way.

"I thought you said it was easy?"

"The last ambush? Yeah. that stunt you pulled with the paint to hide your pheromones wasn't nice. It's a good job I'm a master tracker, or I'd have lost you."

"Lucky me." She rolled her amber eyes and looked around her. no weapons, nothing but baggage...hmmm... she jumped to one side when he jerked forward and tried to grab her. "Oh, you didn't think after all that I'd just give in, did you?"

"Damn it Alice you're driving me mad." He hissed, throwing his fists down by his sides. This action brought her gauze to his groin.

"Mad is it? didn't you say something about me needed to be blooded before you could 'show me'?" K'tan pulled at the clasp on his belt, pulling the plating from his gut off and yanking at his loin cloth.

"I'm going to make an acceptation for you, due to your upbringing. And the precious cunt you felt fit to flash me when you thought you'd won." He rolled his shoulders back and snarled at her. ooo, the beast was out!

Alice looked him up and down, feeling her whole body tingle with arousal. He was so...and he wanted to...mmmm...She grabbed the rim of her stolen pink dress and slowly lifted it up a few inches.

"Oh, do you mean, this?" she lifted it up to her waist, exposing herself to him. K'tan released a deep growl from his chest.

"Come here woman." He snapped, stalking towards her. Alice pushed her back against the door hard, and realised he hadn't been lying after all. He had well and truly chained the door.

Well...since there was _no_ escape...

"No, you come here." She pulled the dress over her head and dropped it to her side.

K'tan was on her in a second, pressing the mouthpiece of his mask to her neck and kneading her breasts in his hands. He ghosted his fingertips over her nipples and massaged her mounds in his hands.

"Pauk I want you." he growled, releasing her to pull at the ties of his loin cloth.

"I want you too." she whimpered and grabbed a hold of his mask. He couldn't stop her. by the gods he wasn't fast enough. She whipped it off and dropped it onto her dress beside her. it hurt his jaw a little bit but he was more concerned with her seeing his face.

Humans always reacted the same way when they saw a Yautja face. With repulsion.

Alice stared at his face, drinking him all in. She didn't register the worry in his eyes. she did register the agile spikes surrounding the crest of his brow, just like his mask. She caressed those first, lulling the predator closer to her. The dark brown stripes ran down the middle of his brow, and across his mandibles. The rest was the coffee brown. His mandibles were tipped with cream coloured tusks, and her fingers went to them eagerly. "So...that's where I get these from." She opened her mouth and showed him the two sets of fangs protruding from her gums under her lips. K'tan gulped and touched them gently with his fingers, exploring her in turn.

She was odd...but oddly beautiful. He traced the cute little spots she had around her face and down her neck. He tangled one hand into her dreads and brought her face to his. He brushed the tusk of his upper right mandible with her upper left fang, and it felt just like kissing a Yautja woman. He moaned into her, stoking her cheeks and mixing his heavy breathing with hers. "Am I- Am I pretty enough for-"

"Yes." he growled against her, smoothing one hand down her front and to her wiry brown tresses. "Gods yes." he slid his fingers between her folds and felt her wonderful heat. "I thought so the first moment I saw you."

Alice felt tears well up in her eyes. no one have ever wanted her before. She'd even tried flirting with some of the younger lab technicians and never got any response that wasn't cruel. She watched romantic films where the charming guy always got the pretty girl, and plagued her mother with questions. When would she find a man to like her? A man like her? The answers she got…were not pleasant.

This is why she ran. She hoped she'd find...this.

"I thought you were beautiful the first time I saw you." she lifted one of her legs up and over his hip. She gripped his shoulders hard as she felt him enter her. He couldn't wait any longer. "A-ah!" she strangled her pain in her throat as he pushed inside her. he felt big. And wide. K'tan released a shuddered breath once he was in to the hilt, and swallowed deeply.

"Pauk." He gripped at her hips and helped her put the other leg over his hips too. "You're so hot. I'm burning inside you." he clattered in her ear, grinding her against the door. Alice whimpered and gripped the top of the door frame, trying to get some sort of leverage. If anything it lifted her breasts up to K'tan's viewing delight, and he nipped at her dusky nipples between his mandibles.

"OOoooh!"

For some reason this didn't hurt. Mother had always told her it would be painful, and wrong for her to have sex. But this felt so good! As much as she could she pushed her hips back against his, and then felt the sudden urge to be on top of him. She released the door frame and pushed forward. This caught K'tan off guard and they landed with him on his back, slightly winded and shaking his head at her.

"You could have just asked." He didn't complain for long however. Alice grabbed his shoulders and rode him slowly, getting her bearings, and then speeding up. "Scratch that. do this whenever you want." He arched against the floor and pawed at her waist, holding it as she writhed above him. feeling the familiar tingling building up within him, he took matters into his own hands. K'tan shoved his thumb into his mouth and licked it thoroughly. He then slipped it between her tresses and rotated it in a certain place.

"OOoooooHH!" Alice screamed with pleasure, being thrown face first into her first orgasm by this Adonis of a man. She moaned up to the roof and held her head, pining with delight. She trembled above him, pawing at his chest as she rode him, and the waves of her release.

"So. That's in the same place then." He clattered and gripped her hips, helping her pick up the pace again. "Oo, just like that." K'tan thrust up against her, loving how wild she was being. Nipping at his skin, letting him do the same, and clawing at him. so primal. Just the way he liked it. He gripped her hips and came with her name on his mandibles. In his tongue it sounded more like Ih'lek. He held her still against him and arched against the floor. He came hard, and better than he had done in a long time. K'tan opened his amber eyes and looked up at her with a grin across his mandibles. He sat up and held her chin with his fingers and thumb. He pulled it down and opened her mouth. She peeled her lips back so he could caress her fangs with his tusks. She panted against him, their foreheads pressed together and their arms around each other.

"...I have never been so happy in my life." Alice whispered, and he chuckled at her.

"Never?"

"No...that's why I ran away from my cage." He snapped his amber eyes up at her then in alarm. But hers were still closed, so she didn't register his reaction. "...i wanted to be...happy." she swallowed hard and sat up. She looked away from him and exhaled slowly. "Thank you for chasing me." K'tan leant up on his elbows and watched her. How had he not seen how...lonely she was? "Thank you for making love to me." Alice retrieved her dress and his mask, holding the pink fabric to her chest and holding the mask out for him. "I'll go into your cage now."

"No." He sat up and held her back, stopping her escaping in alarm. "I was never going to put you in a cage Alice. I was going to take you home. You will _never_ be put in a cage again. You're not the first Yautja-ooman hybrid Alice. You're just the first the Oomans have made."

"You mean...your kind have made people like me before?" still joined he rubbed her back, feeling the tightness in his chest and knowing he would need to put the mask on again soon.

"Yes. Some for study. Some for the rare but still numerous times that one of my people has taken an honoured pray into the clan. An Ooman that has proven themselves an equal, and they have taken a Yautja mate. Yautja and Ooman cannot naturally have offspring, so we use our understanding of genetics to _make_ them one."

"I can...I can really go with you? and not in a cage?"

"Yes. of course." K'tan brushed his tusks with her fangs once more before he started wheezing. Then the mask went on, and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Is that my fault?"

"No. I breathe oxygen but the concentration is much higher on my planet. I can only go so long breathing the air on this backwater world before I need my..."

Sag.

She was out cold on his front. He turned them over and pulled out of her. After a quick check of her vitals he was sure she had just passed out. "...well I take it there will be no more complaining or resisting getting on my ship now then?"


	5. Who's watching who?

"So we're supposed to pass for feds now?" Bonnie pulled at her clothing and sighed. "No matter the monkey suit, I still don't look like a fed."

"Well you won't if you pull at your uniform like that." Hetta batted her hand and chuckled at the testy brunette. "You look fine, leave it alone."

"Hate this." She grumbled.

"Here here." Private Antonia rolled her shoulders against the fabric and sulked. "And these shoes are killer."

"And boring." Noriko had died her hair pure black on the bus last night, reasoning that blue streaks didn't become a federal agent. Her bob had a glossy look to it now, and she put her hands on her hips. "This whole outfit is _boooooooring._ "

"Quiet guys." Hetta rolled her green eyes at the women. "It's a pair of black heels, black tights, a grey pencil skirt and a black blouse. It's hardly that bad. We could have had to wear full suits. I'd have looked like such a man if we had to wear suits."

"A man with tits?" Bonnie stuck her tongue out at the German biologist. "No one is missing those puppies, suit or no suit. Hay!" Hetta play punched the bounty hunter, amusing the rest of the women.

They were armed with ear pieces to talk to Emma in the surveillance van parked across the street. Bonnie wore her brown locks down and windswept around her face, and took point out of habit. Hetta and Noriko followed behind her and Toni took their six, out of habit. Her hair was tied back into her usual long braid. They put their game faces on and walked into the LVPD. Officers and offenders alike stared as the hot women in matching outfits walked through the station and straight into the chief's office.

The police chief was a middle aged man who had kept himself fit whilst behind his desk. His short black hair was grey in places, but well combed. His uniform was smart and his desk was ordered to perfection. Not a pencil out of place. His sharp brown eyes looked up from the file on his desk and he seemed to be working very hard not to glare at the group of women.

"Oh? So I take it you're the feds hijacking the shootout case?"

"Yeah, that would be us." Bonnie sauntered forward and dropped a file onto his desk. She smirked as the first thing he did was straighten his line of pens again before opening the file. she taunted him further by leaning forward and putting her hands on his perfectly polished desk. "The perpetrator is someone who has committed crimes in various states and we've been tracking them for a while. I'm going to need all your forensic evidence sent over to my colleague Agent O'Reilly at the designated address in the file. All the evidence. If there is any missing I will come down on your ass like a meteor in the Cretaceous Period. The crime scene photos, witness details and statements, everything. The crime scene is our play thing now and I don't plan on sharing. Am I understood?" her voice went all sickly sweet at the end.

"Well, I think you're the first Fed that hasn't tried to bullshit me over their expectations. You don't want to cooperate, you want to dominate."

"Just the way I like it." Bonnie winked, sensing only frustration coming from the good chief. Not resistance. "Now, all the evidence, analysis and tests to the provided address. And get your men _off_ my crime scene."

"…yes _mam_."

"Good day."

"Oh my god Bonnie you were amazing." Hetta whispered into her ear as they got into a cab, on their way to the crime scene. In fact it wasn't a cab but one of Jenkins' operatives in a pretend cab, but no one else would know that.

"I do try." She chuckled.

"You've done that before." Antonia narrowed her brown eyes on bounty hunter. "Impersonating a federal agent is illegal Bonnie."

"Is it? Who said I'd done it before?" Bonnie winked at the soldier and pressed her ear piece. "We gave the police their riot act. That evidence is on its way Emma."

"Excellent." Emma stammered over the coms. "I look forward to seeing what LVPD managed to get on their own. Please use the sample kits provided to collect pheromone samples. We have Alice and Eve's samples on record so we can do a comparison of any scents you collect in a jiffy. Oo, and remember Alice's blood will look human, but have faint luminescent properties. Eve's will be pale green, borderline yellow. And highly acidic! If you think you spot Eve's blood sample then you need to use the metallic swabs and put the vials into the cryo tank straight away."

"Yes yes doc, you told us all this before we headed out." Bonnie sagged in the seat, getting bored already. "When do we get to do the fun stuff?"

"When this bitch goes on a killing spree and we get the kill order." Noriko pulled a satchel from the boot and set it onto the floor between them. "Until then, we'll have a little fun with these new toys."

"Wait a minute." Toni ragged the bag wide open and stared down at them. "…I'm a weapons expert and I can't tell you what these are. Where did these come from? China? Russia?"

"Try space aliens." Noriko giggled, her icy blue eyes gleaming with excitement. "Jenkins wasn't kidding when she said we'd get some new toys to play with. Read the note." Toni took the note and started grinning half way down.

"Get out." She gasped, handing the note to Bonnie as she got stuck in with Noriko, sorting through the weapons.

 _Please find in the bag a reversed engineered version of the predator technology. These are prototypes, and we are all eager to see how they perform in the field. They were designed originally for Alice and Eve._

 _One battle suit each, fitted to your individual proportions of course. Each suit has in built camouflage technology controlled by the digi-pad on the right wrist bracer, and make sure not to get it damaged. In both bracers there are retractable blades, although not as long as the ones the predators use. Alas, our earth metals aren't strong enough to work efficiently with the same proportions, so they are close combat only blades. Attach to your belts each one wire net gun and of course regular weapons of your choosing. The suit has Kevlar alloy protective pads in the carious compartments, such as in the chest, the abdomen, thighs and shins. It will stop a direct stabbing, or a scathing bullet, but by no means is this designed to be heavy duty. Bullets can still kill you, as can plasma weapons. Be careful._

 _Dr Jenkins._

"I love this woman." Bonnie shoved the note at Hetta and found her attack suit. For the most part it looked like very tight fitting black motorbike leathers, with black material between the panels to allow more flexible movement in places like her knees, crotch, waist and elbows. The helmet looked to fit that theme as well. It was also black and the visor over the eyes was huge. It was tinted however, so you couldn't quite see inside. "Why do I feel like Batman?" Bonnie giggled, kicking her heels off. Noriko and Toni had already stripped down to their undies and shuffled into their suits. They were zipping themselves in and smoothing their gloved hands down the leather with awe. "I'm so Batman."

"And what does that make us?" Hetta squirmed against Bonnie, struggling for the room to change into the suits in the back of a cab. "I'm Batwoman then."

"Dibs on Nightwing." Noriko giggled carefully extending and retracting the wrist blade on her left hand. "Pass me the balaclava Robin." She snickered at Toni, who rolled her eyes and handed one of the balaclavas to everyone.

"Ooo and I'll be oracle!" Emma pipped up over the intercom. "Because she was a bat girl, and then when she was crippled by the Joker she spoke over the ear pieces to Batman and Robin and-"

"Ok! We get it!" Bonnie sniggered, tucking her hair into her balaclava. "Wait, are we all massive nerds in here or what?" she sniggered, and even Noriko was amused by their antics. "Alright everyone, show time."

They all pulled on their helmets and for a minute nothing happened. Then there was a soft beeping in their ears and then their worlds lit up like they were watching the world through a computer. The suits seemed to recognise each other, as the name of the person wearing it appeared on the left side of their vision as they looked at each other.

"Ok, I'm a little bit in love." Toni eagerly handed out wire net guns to everyone and then strapped a pistol to each thigh. Noriko grabbed a pair of black wakizashi from the bag, saying they were hers anyway, and put them into a special holder on her back in an X. Bonnie took the assault rifle and kissed the barrel of it. That went onto her back, and she waited to see what Hetta would pick.

"I've never used a weapon in my life. Other than stick to beat a lion off me once, and it was a tranquilizer stick."

"How about something hand held then? Oooooo, these!" Toni handed the tall blonde a strange set of blades. Hetta put her fingers into the holes like knuckle dusters, but the knuckles had a protector strip of metal on it, and the blades first came out of the knuckles above the thumbs. They then curved back across the knuckles with a serrated edge, and continued on as a sharp edged blade at least twice the length of her hands.

"Ooooo pretty." Noriko looked ready to make out with the blades. "I'll have to get a set of those ordered."

"Me too." Bonnie said, quite jealous. "Ok, time to get our asses in gear. We're here."

 _"_ _Are you getting this Ta'ryn?"_

 _"_ _Yes I am."_ A tall Berserker crouched on a rooftop overlooking the police crime scene, fully cloaked and zooming in the lenses of his mask to watch a group of Oomans enter the building. This wasn't concerning to him. their method of infiltrating the building is what concerned them. _"They are using cloaked technology. The Oomans around them aren't reacting to their presence at all."_

 _"_ _K'tan said that this is where he encountered his new Hybrid pet."_ The cynical tone of his hunting unit's weapon expert Sargo clattered in his mask. He was poised on the roof of the restaurant and mapping the group of cloaked Oomans and relaying the Intel to Ta'ryn, the unit leader. _"I count four of them. They left one uncloaked Ooman in their van. I read low frequency chatter between them and the lone Ooman. It could be that she is their leader."_

 _"_ _She?"_ Ta'ryn hissed and turned his gaze to the van. It was parked down a side alley and seemed to contain a small mobile lab and multiple computers to increase sample processing speed. _"They are lead by a woman?"_

 _"_ _They appear to_ _all_ _be female. This could be a problem, though they all are carrying weapons."_

 _"_ _Do not engage them in battle Sargo. Do not get close encase they have managed to clone our suit to suit identifying programming as well. The last thing we need is for them to realise we are watching them."_

 _"_ _Understood."_

Sargo clung to the side wall and looked in through an open window. He used the pulse claws of his bracers to anchor himself into the thick brick wall and watched as the women worked. _"There is a very tall female, very tall for an Ooman. She is collecting Ooman blood samples."_

 _"_ _Did K'tan mention his pet having bled?"_

 _"_ _No. It isn't fluorescing either, so it belongs to one of their pray."_

 _"_ _This is a joke."_ Ta'ryn snarled over the com. _"We came here to hunt. Relax. Now we have been issued with investigating the ooman's ability to clone our DNA, only to find they have copied our technology as well. Damn K'tan."_

 _"_ _Being the son of our clan's Arbitrator helps to pull strings I suppose."_ Sargo clattered, not improving his berserker's friend's mood one bit. _"It is important to investigate this. imagine the Oomans going unchecked and making armies of Yautja hybrid soldiers? Using our own tech against us?"_

 _"_ _Sounds like a worthy hunt to me."_ Sargo shook his head and rolled his brown eyes with amusement.

 _"_ _Everything sounds like a worthy hunt to you. testy bastard."_

 _"_ _That's why you enjoy hunting with me, isn't it?"_

 _"_ _True."_ The dark brown skinned Yautja leaned closer to the window. _"They are an odd bunch of Oomans. Probably not military."_

 _"_ _Why do you say that?"_

 _"_ _The small skinny Ooman is sitting on her ass and refusing to do any work. She's spinning small daggers around her fingers. Another one with an assault rifle is threatening to shoot her if she doesn't 'haul her skinny ninja ass off that desk and pull her weight'."_

 _"_ _Amateurs. Amateurs with our technology. Great. Pauking great."_ Sargo cocked his head to one side and watched another of the Oomans take the riffle off the angry one, disarm it and hand it back to her in one swift movement. She then berated them both as children, and got back to work taking samples and snapping pictures.

 _"_ _One of them shows some promise. Knows her way around an Ooman gun and seems to take this seriously."_

 _"_ _I call dibs on that one."_

 _"_ _No way Ta'ryn."_ Sargo sniggered, clicking his mandibles together under his mask and narrowing his eyes on her. _"I saw her first."_

 _"_ _This is boring."_ Sargo could hear his fearless leader about to lose his marbles. This usually resulting in him running off to find a hunt. He'd be damned if he was left behind.

 _"_ _We've already cleared the room for any Yautja and hybrid samples. There is no need to stay here any longer. We should report back to the clan about the cloned tech development and await orders."_

 _"_ _Or we could report back, and hunt whilst we wait for new orders?"_

Sargo sniggered and gave the room of cloaked Oomans one last look before looking up to scale the building.

 _"_ _Sounds perfect to me. After you Ta'ryn."_

"Nothing." Bonnie huffed, back in the massive RV and not a happy camper. "All that and we didn't get any trace of Alice having ever _been_ at that shoot out."

"That's what the evidence says." Emma shrugged from her seat at the briefing table and chuckled nervously. "I guess the sighting wasn't accurate?" She blinked her hazel eyes a few times and tucked messy strands of her brown hair behind her ears. "Where do we go from here?"

"Nowhere." Noriko kicked the table leg and huffed, pouting her ass off. "Sure we got new toys to play with, but _no one_ to use our toys on. Waste of fucking time."

"Well at least she isn't getting into any trouble, right?" Hetta shrugged, hugging a cup of coffee tenderly for warmth. Her blue eyes looked more tired than anything else, and she sighed. "You better settle in for the long haul. If she's decided to lie low, there is only one way she'll be able to do that. Finding someone to hide and protect her. I just hope that's a human that's taken her in and not a predator."

"Why?" Toni sipped a bottle of water, trying to kick caffeine. Her long raven braid sat over her left breast and she raised a shapely brow at the German woman. "If she's hiding, who does it matter if she's being hidden by a human or a predator?"

"Because a human doesn't have a space ship capable of taking her off planet." Hetta sipped her coffee and sighed with bliss. "Encountering a predator at this early stage of her escape will result in only three potential outcomes." She started to count off her fingers. "They could see her as an abomination and reject her, killing her off. They could accept her as one of them and take her with them to integrate into their society-"

"Sounds good to me." Bonnie interjected. She still had a problem with making a person and keeping her in a cage in the name of science. All Bonnie had ever wanted was freedom. She wasn't happy she was being forced to take Alice's freedom from her.

"-or." Hetta gulped. "They could see her as a threat. They could take her...and study her."

"Oh fuck." Bonnie sat back in her seat and threw her hands up angrily. "You mean swapping a human cage for a predator one?"

"Oh no..." Emma sat on the edge of her seat and took everyone's attention with the look of alarm in her hazel orbs. "If the predators find out that we've been splicing their DNA into our own and growing hybrids, they might jump to conclusions and-"

"Be correct." Bonnie hissed again. "Alice and Eve were made to be super soldiers, weren't they?"

"An act of war." Toni had her game face on. "They could see this as humanity's way of fighting back. oh shit, if they found out we had access to their technology and weaponry as well, we could spark some sort of pre-emptive counter strike."

"An alien war? Count me out of that." Noriko pulled a magazine from the table and put it over her head, ready to take a nap. "There is no profit for a girl like me from war."

"Profit? You're talking about _money_?!" Toni got to her feet and looked about ready to clobber the assassin. Luckily Hetta was sat between them and put herself in the way.

"Toni, calm down. We won't be much good to anyone if we start fighting each other. Right?"

Begrudgingly, and with a lot of effort, Antonia sat down and exhaled deeply to regain control of herself.

"We need to make a plan." the SAS vet turned to Bonnie, the closest person in the group to a fellow law enforcer, and saw the same concern in her blue eyes. "We need to contain the situation before the predators get wind of it."

"Well..." Emma cleared her throat and turned her laptop around for the table to see. "...i mean, I could be wrong, it's happened once before, but I got some... _odd_ readings today at the crime scene." The geneticist gulped deeply, fumbling over her own words as she had everyone's undivided attention. Even Noriko pushed the magazine off her head to fix her sharp brown eyes on the screen. She chuckled nervously and looked down at the laptop screen. "You see, I was given the same pheromone detectors that a previous tracking unit used, hoping to get a 'whiff' of Alice. It picked up a couple of signatures..." Emma pressed the play button on her screen and showed the group two rooftops. One was the restaurant, the other ones a building opposite it. the fuzzy outlines were big, and clear enough to reach a conclusion. "They weren't a match for Alice so it didn't flag up during our excursion. It's only after I went through the background data that I noticed that it was a...similar match. Species specific molecule markers were present to suggest that-"

"Predators." Bonnie banged her fists on the desk. "Fucking predators were _there_ , _today, watching us,_ and we didn't a have a fucking clue?!"

The group of women felt _very_ unsafe in that moment.

"Joder!" Toni hissed, showing her heritage.

"What?" Toni turned Hetta and ran a hand back through her hair.

"We were wearing the prototype suits. _When they were watching us."_ She ground through her teeth, and the magnitude of the shit they were in dawned on them. "If they were watching us today, they will have figured out that we used their modified tech to enter the crime scene. They know. They know _everything_."

"They might not know about Alice." Hetta tried to calm the British soldier.

"Estamos jodidos!"

"Toni! English!" Bonnie reached over the table and grabbed her hands. Hetta held her shoulders too, trying to calm her. "Hetta's right, they might only know half our dirty secrets."

"Oh yeah?" Toni ground, pulling her hands free and pushing Hetta off her. "If they haven't met Alice, who was sighted in that restaurant, then how did they know to go there?"

"We don't know Alice was there." Emma tried to help, nodding her head over and over. "The samples came back negative."

"If she was there, and _they_ have her, any decent infiltration squad would go back and clean the scene. I've been part of a cleaner crew, and I can't imagine it being any different for predators as it is for humans. Right?"

There was a moment of silence as they realised they were in even _more_ trouble than they thought they were.

"Baka." Noriko hissed. "I didn't sign up to get caught between pissed off aliens and corporations that have too much money and like to play god. Nope, I'm out." just as the assassin stood, the door opened and in came Dr Jenkins. "Oh-Baka tare."

"Indeed Shinju-Dono." Noriko flinched, like she'd been backhanded, and slowly sat down under the older woman's gaze. Bonnie caught the look between the women, and logged in her mind to ask about what dono meant later. "Now, you must know that all reports you take and samples you process are sent automatically to my lab, and that this whole RV is bugged?"

"What?!" Bonnie stood, seriously considering to swing for the older doctor, but Emma took her wrist and gently pulled her back down.

"It's not worth it. trust me."

"But-you have no _right_ to-"

"We don't have time for you to tell me what I can and cannot do with my property." Dr Jane Jenkins pointed to the RV around them. "I've been listening to every word you've said from the moment you boarded this RV."

"Convenient how you walk in _just_ as we realise how fucked we all are."

"Private Hernandez." Jenkins chided the soldier. "I expect that kind of language from Miss Jones due to her line of work, but not a decorated soldier like you. or rather, you _were_ decorated, weren't you?"

"Bonnie? _Please_ hit her for me." Toni's jaw was tight and she had a murderous glint in her dark brown eyes. Something Noriko recognised and smirked to herself.

"Tempted. We were put in some serious danger today. I assume boss-lady, that you heard the part where Emma figured out we were under predator-watch today?"

"Yes." Dr Jenkins cleared her throat looked down at the women through her glasses. "That is an unfortunate hindrance, but not an unforeseen one. It is why I chose all an all female team."

"Huh?" Bonnie scratched her head and turned to look at Emma. "Look, I know I'm not the sharpest stick at this table, but what does us all having tits have to do with-"

"For your information-Miss Jones" the sharp snooty tone grated against Bonnie's ears, letting her know how annoying the doctor found her questions. "-Predators do not like hunting women. Men are fair game, worthy prey. Women are off limits unless they prove themselves to be formidable enemies. At least, so our current intel tells us."

"We were armed to the teeth today." Bonnie ground out, still not seeing how 'safe' she was. "They could have-"

"You weren't using your weapons." Jenkins rolled her eyes, showing she was bored of this line of questioning, and angering the bounty hunter further. "You were taking pictures and samples. Hardly 'prey worthy material'. Here are your new orders. The predators are watching you because of the prototypes. So we are going to let them watch you."

"...what?" Jenkins shoved her glasses up her nose and put her hands on the hips of her white lab coat. Bonnie started to think she wore that thing everywhere. At least Emma was sporting jeans and a jumper out of the lab. Like a normal human being. _No, this bitch would dissolve into a puddle of goo without her lab coat and power trip._

"If they are following you, we can use that to lead them into an ambush."

"No." Noriko shook her head and put her hands up. "I never thought I'd say this, but _no money_ is enough to make me go into an ambush with aliens."

"I second that." Toni nodded at the assassin.

"We are going to set up the trap to release nerve gas. They will be out cold and there are only two of them."

"Only two of them?" Emma finally piped up, her hands trembling on her lap. "One predator took out a trained extraction unit in 1990. A whole military trained unit. We are five women..."

"Two of which are civilian doctors." Hetta added.

"And a bounty hunter of _idiots_ , not killing machines." No target had ever scared Bonnie before...

"I'm a trained killer." Noriko shrugged. "and I'm not doing it."

"Me neither." Toni added, sharing the same page as the assassin for once.

"I think that's rather unanimous then." Bonnie smirked at the doctor, ready to declare their victory...only to see the doctor was smirking. "...what?"

"Dear Miss Jones." Her ruby smirk was sickening, and the group of women suddenly felt a lot less powerful than they did a moment ago. Dr Jenkins was one scary lady. She pulled out a tablet phone and seemed to ignore the room and speak to the phone.

"If you refuse to do this, so we can get vital data from living predator specimens, and get Alice back, I will inform Shinju-dono's family that we have her in custody, ensure that pornographic material is found on Juan Hernandez' school computer, make Dr Klaus Protect the Planet foundation come under attack by the federal fraud department and find a money ciphering scandal. Miss Jones will be arrested for the numerous times she has impersonated a federal and police officer, broke into apartments and profited from doing so. Oh, and you Miss O'Riley will never get a job anywhere _near_ a microscope ever again." A sickly sweet smile pulled at Jane Jenkins' thin lips and she saw the will to fight drop from her 'team' one by one. "And you should have realised by now that I am more than capable of making all that happen with one phone call. So believe me when I _promise_ that I will follow through with that threat if you back out now. I will get Alice and Eve back, hell be damned. You are all I've got, so you _will_ succeed. Rest well ladies." She turned on her heels and headed for the door. "Tomorrow you'll be using the prototypes to hunt down and lead the predators into our well laid nerve gas trap. I look forward to your success."

The door closed, and the five women felt physically sick.

"I'll kill her." Noriko glared so hard at the door it wouldn't have surprised anyone if it burst into flame. Hers weren't the only fists clenched on the table.

"I'll help you carry her." Hetta hissed, uncharacteristically angry.

"I'll help you burry the body." Bonnie ground through her teeth.

"I'll fill in the grave." Toni added.

"I'll remove all the evidence." The rest of the table forgot their rage for a moment to stare in shock at the timid doctor.

"Well, nice to know you're one of us, and not one of them." Bonnie threw her arm over her bony shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "So, team up-shit-creak, since we're between a rock and a hard place, how do we make sure we come out of this thing in one piece?"

No one spoke for a moment, then Emma's laptop pinged. "What's that?"

"Oh...Dr Jenkins has kindly forwarded us the location for the ambush...it's in a furniture warehouse down Queens..." her voice fizzled off, her own impending doom looming over her.

"Ok." Toni released a deep breath, then looked around her. it was going to be a long night. "Do we have a map of the city?"

"Erm, in the top draw." Emma offered, and got up to collect it. as the doctor flattened the map on the table, Toni drew a circle at the coordinates of the warehouse. "Yes that's the one."

"We need to come up with a plan. If it isn't perfect, we're dead."

"So we have an end point. Where do we start?"

"Well if this was a pair of humans, where would you start?" Hetta directed at Bonnie, who shrugged.

"I'd start by reading their profiles, understanding what makes them tick and predict what their next move will be. that doesn't work here."

"Well they _are_ a predatory species, but their psychology is something I'm not used to." Hetta finished her coffee and rubbed her temples. There was no species of animal she'd studied that came close to comparing to these hunters.

"I am." Noriko put her elbows on the map and picked up a pencil. "I've hunted serial killers many times, sick ones." She shuddered, clearly recalling some of them. "If we say they are psychopaths with their need to kill, they'd be looking for victims, right?"

"Yes, but their file says that they choose 'worthy' pray." The German countered.

"Oo!" Emma bounced in her seat, eager to participate. "They would likely be looking for large groups of armed people that would eagerly engage them in battle. That's why their documented hunts usually take place in gang land, or with law enforcement." Her hands flapped in the air as the light bulb flashed mentally over her head, before furiously typing on her computer. "Here." She then handed it to Toni, and beamed a smile. She was clearly eager to please her new band of sisters, Bonnie thought.

"Right. So all known gangs in this area are..." Toni used Emma's data base to see there was only one gang base near the warehouse. "...the 88's. They have a bar on the next block."

"So if we can get the predators interested in that gang bar specifically, we could then lead them to the warehouse..."

They worked like a tight-knit team that night, embracing each other's ideas and all contributing to the plan. Toni brought military tactics to the table, Noriko suggested underhanded tactics, Emma prepared a program to keep the police out of their way, and Hetta and Bonnie offered to be the decoys. It was an hour and a half before a full plan was made. By that time they all bid each other goodnight and went to bed to get very little sleep. Emma ended up giving them all sleeping pills just to knock them out. during the next day they would prepare, and then at night they would execute...


	6. Enter Eve

_Help me._

Alice snapped her big amber eyes open and tensed in the bed. She slowly pushed down on the thick mattress and turned to look over her shoulder. K'tan was laid on his side, his back facing her, and snoring softly.

 _Alice. I'm so cold._

The tall hybrid slowly crept out of the bed and rose to her feet. Her temples buzzed as the words repeated behind her eyes, and she trembled at the sensation. That voice was familiar. Never had she heard it without any sound, but she'd felt it before.

 _Yes Alice, it's me. Eve._

She gasped softly and opened her mouth to speak.

 _No Alice. I'm touching your mind. You can only reply by thinking. If you speak, I'll not hear you and you'll alert the predator._

Alice turned to look over her shoulder again, seeing K'tan was still asleep and snoring.

 _Alright Eve, I'm listening. How are you in my head?_ She pulled the pink tennis dress from the floor and slipped it over her head. her long brown dreads fanned around her shoulders as she pulled them from down the neck of her dress.

 _I don't know. I can just...feel you. I've always felt you when we were close. But never this far away. Help me Alice. I'm so scared._

Alice slowly backed out of the room, the doors swishing open silently and her eyes trained on K'tan's sleeping form. he didn't stir, and she didn't dare wake him. _I'm in an alleyway. I'm not sure where. I'm cold and wet. I'm so hungry and people have been screaming all around me. They call me a monster...i just want to be safe._

 _I'm coming Eve._

Her voice felt like waves of terror lapping at her mind. Goosebumps rose on her honey skin and brown spots. As stealthily as she could she manoeuvred through the small hunting vessel and out an open back door. _not even locked. Arrogant or what?_

 _Someone's coming._ Alarm rang through Alice's head, and she bolted out of the doorway. She immediately winced as a wall of smells hit her so hard she wobbled on her feet. Shaking it off, she realised that at some point K'tan must have flown his ship back into the sewers. _Alice!_

 _I'm coming Eve!_

Alice bolted along the side walkways of the sewers and leapt to the top of the nearest set of ladders. She pushed the manhole open and trembled as she was immediately drenched in water. It was raining heavily. _No wonder she's so cold._

 _I can feel you closer now. hurry!_

Alice scrambled to the side walk, seeing the glow of the same street lights as the day before. at least she was in the same city.

Alice ran as fast as her bare feet would carry her, getting odd looks from passersby, particularly when her dress whipped up with her running. Somehow Alice new she was getting closer, as the buzzing behind her temples was getting stronger, and her fellow hybrid's voice was getting louder in her head.

The highest screech she'd ever heard thundered out from a side alley ahead of her, and a man's body flew out from it. It snapped around a light post, breaking his back and sagging to the floor. Dead. Alice ran over to the body and squatted. She cocked her head to one side, her dreads swaying with the movement and sniffed at him. _Dead._

 _He had a gun._

Alice snapped her head towards the alleyway and whipped her hair round with her. In a very feline movement she rose to her feet and stalked forward, stopping just short of the alleyway. _I have it now._

"I'm here Eve." Rain poured down the figures of two women. One in the open, head high and stance strong. The second remained in the shadows and huddled to the side wall. Her hair was long and raven, like her eyes, and her skin so very pale. She still wore the hospital gown and it was stained with dirty water and blood. The smaller woman was shivering and holding her petite frame. They were the same height, but in that cowering position against the wall, Eve looked meek in every way. "Eve..."

"I-I didn't know if y-you'd come."

She was crying. She had no pupils, iris or whites to her black eyes, but tears were pouring out of them and her lips were trembling as she sobbed.

"You freed me." Alice took a cautious step forward. "We were made together."

"We are half sisters." Eve sniffled and took a step towards her against the wall. the outline of her long skeletal tail came into view. It was coiled on the floor around her feet, shivering like the rest of her. she was so soaked, you could see the hard peaks of her nipples and every dip and curve of her lithe form. "I couldn't l-leave you there. I always felt close to you Alice. But I didn't think you felt close to me."

"We were separated by bars, but we shared the same cage." Despite a screaming alarm in her head, Alice closed the distance between them and cupped the stone cold cheek of the woman she both feared and loved. Eve closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. "I have found someone who will take me from this place. we could-"

"No." She hissed and staggered back from her. "I'm like you, but not like them. They will **_kill_** me."

"I won't let them." Alice barked, banging her fist against the wall and making Eve snap out of her hissing fit. They stared at each other, both becoming calmer as the Las Vegas rain poured down on them both in that alleyway. "I'll protect you Eve." Before her eyes the trembling mess of a woman fell to her knees and sagged forward; into Alice's arms. "I promise."

"Is this legit?"

"An ATM caught the whole thing 2 hours ago."

"Damn." Bonnie stared at the Emma's laptop and nodded. "Alright. So the girls are both still in Las Vegas, and they're together."

"This a great sign." Hetta had a half eaten bagel in one hand, a psychological profile in her other hand, and stood in nothing but a towel in the middle of the RV. "These two have always been kept in the same room but different cages due to the volatile nature of their natural hunting instincts. Dr Jenkins determined that the only way to habituate them to each other was to separate them, and keep them close. However, they never seemed to interact with each other without the doc's instigation."

"Woman, put some clothes on will you? you're going to take someone's eye out with those." Bonnie pointed to the taller woman's tightly packed breasts and sniggered at the blush she got as a reward. Bonnie was already dressed in a pair of biker boots, skinny jeans, many chains attached to the pockets and a boob tube jacket. She wore a bandana around her forehead and let her brown hair fall down around her shoulders. "I know we're bait, but that's a bit much, no?"

"Wait, what?" the German leggy blonde finished chomping her breakfast and rubbed the crumbs from her mouth. "We're not still doing the ambush, are we? I thought the whole point of our mission was to track down Alice and Eve. Why are we still trying to capture the predators?"

"Because the bitch says so."

Noriko grumpily stomped past them, taking the profiles from Hetta, no word of thanks or an apology, and sat on the table where both Emma and Bonnie sat. She was in her black battle suit and armed to the teeth. Her helmet was under her arm, and she scanned her dark brown eyes over the documents. "She wants new playthings. Same threats apply. Bitch. So-this says that the scenario of them both being within arm's reach equals a blood bath." The assassin swung her raven bob to look at the recording and raised a brow. "So why is Alice carrying Eve's unconscious ass out of that alleyway like they're the best of buds?"

"That's what's so fascinating." Hetta put waved her hands as she spoke, showing her excitement. "Using the psychology of their alien inheritance, they should have viewed each other as a threat and fought. Yet they have somehow against the odds bonded. After all, Eve escaped and then let Alice out too. why would she do that if she didn't _care_ about her? And then there's this!" Her accent became thicker as she became giddier. The blonde pointed to the screen, getting closer to it. "Alice came out of nowhere, like she _knew_ where Eve was. She came to her rescue."

"Alice came to rescue Eve? You saw that fully grown man come flying out of that alleyway, right? His body wrapped around a light pole?"

"Don't you get it?" Hetta bounced on the spot, making the other three women fear that the towel would fall at any moment. "There is only _one_ way they could have a compassion for each other. Their _human_ DNA! Blending human nature with their alien instincts has made them behave in a very human way. They have bonded over the trauma of being created and kept in a laboratory all their lives." A touch of sadness threaded through her words and big blue eyes. "Even once they were free, they reached out to each other for comfort and safety."

"Fellow prisoners bond in the same way." Bonnie pointed to the frozen screen, showing Alice holding Eve in her arms and the Xeno-hybrid's tail sagging over her shoulder. There was a deep look of concern on her face.

Emma sighed and closed the laptop.

"No one understands those two more than each other." The doctor spoke with a soft sad frown on her face. Her hazel eyes watery with the sorrow of what those two must have been through. "So they _need_ each other. Eve calls out for Alice, and she comes running. No hesitation. It could be a subconscious thing."

"Wait, calls out?" Noriko had started to switch off to their excited nerd fest, but tuned in for that part. "How could Eve call out for Alice?"

"Oh, Eve has the telepathic abilities of her Xenomorph forefathers. Oh, foremothers. Oh, you know what I mean." Emma shook it off, rubbing the woolly arms of her blue jumper with the thought of Xenomorphs. "They ran an experiment where they put Xenomorphs near Eve and she told Jenkins she could..." Emma swallowed deeply, shuddering again. "-hear them behind her eyes."

"But that's other aliens." Bonnie felt her head hurting at the thought of aliens. Up until recently, she swore blind they didn't exist.

Up until recently she hadn't been hunting down human alien hybrids either. "How could Eve use her Xeno-mojo to talk to Alice?"

"All those years together." Emma shrugged. "Suffering alike. Could be they share a physiological predisposing to certain pheromones, how they are processed, maybe something to do with their-"

"Stop." Bonnie shook her head, putting her hands on her head. "Science speak hurts my ears."

"Ok, when you use science to mix up human DNA with alien DNA, how can you _possibly_ know all that the organism will be capable of?"

"This got faaaaaar too heavy for me." Noriko slid off the table and dropped the files. "So basically, the girlies are all together. And yet we _still_ have to go into this ambush because Dr Jenkins _still_ wants to play God? Baka."

Hetta sighed, her enthusiasm faded away and she sulked off to her bed to pull on an outfit similar to Bonnie's. No bandana though. _With my short blonde hair, I look butch enough in a leather jacket without a bandana._

Antonia returned shortly after they were all dressed and ready to go. Emma was to stay in the van and provide tactical support, so she stuck to comfortable trainers, jeans and a blue woolly jumper. Toni was dressed in her combat suit, matching Noriko and looking ready for anything. They sat in the back of the van with Emma, who was operating 3 computers as once. One monitoring police channels, another traffic control and the other paramedic call outs.

Bonnie and Hetta sat up front, Bonnie driving and both women trying to look as natural as possible.

In a white van, in broad daylight, on the hunt for predators and human alien hybrids. And not necessarily in that order.

The van pulled up outside the Queens Broken Throne, and the girls shared one last worried look.

"Good luck out there." Antonia sighed and nodded to Hetta and Bonnie. "I have your battle suits in back packs ready to go. Take them with you." She handed them over in turn. "You are to instigate a massive bar fight. That _should_ get the attention of any nearby predators."

"As soon as our hunter friends join the fight, we duck out and suit up." Bonnie nodded, gearing herself up. "We then draw their attention to us in the modified gear, and lead them to the warehouse on the next block."

"Settle in the bar for a bit first." Noriko narrowed her eyes and placed the helmet on her lap ready. "We need to try and use the pheromone receptors to round up the hybrid sisters. We need to either immobilise them there and then, or bring them back to the warehouse to get gased with the other freaks."

"I'm not sure which job is worse." Hetta shook her head and sighed.

"Well, at least we get to chill out in a sleezy bar for a while. I could go for a pint about now too."

"Have one for me Niichan."

The van doors opened, Hetta and Bonnie departed with their back packs, Antonia slipped into the driver's seat and pulled away.

As Hetta and Bonnie entered the bar they were immediately noticed by the regulars, and leered at. Both women sported plenty of curves between them, and they were all on show.

They pretended not to notice the lewd looks they were getting and parked themselves at the bar.

"Now, I'm used to this sort of crowd. You doing ok there lofty?"

"I'll survive." Hetta chuckled to herself and waved over the bartender. "I'm sure we shouldn't be drinking, but to hell with it. Böden auf!"

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Emma was now sat on her own in the van. She was parked outside of the warehouse where the ambush was all set up. She'd been sat here waiting for 3 hours now. all that time did was heighten her nerves and put her on edge. She'd even had to pee in a portable toilet, she was that nervous.

Emma had her ear bud in and was monitoring the chatter on all channels. She'd blocked a few phone calls to the police already from the bar.

 _The fight must be going well then. Cctv shows people running out five minutes ago. no gun fire yet though. I hope Hetta and Bonnie are ok..._

She sighed and turned her big brown eyes to the third screen. She keyed in the command and switched the screen from paramedic routes to the gps locator screen. She zoomed in on Antonia and Noriko's ID's and blinked at the screen.

 _Well that can't be right. They're moving side by side...down the main road...at about 50mph?_

She refreshed the screen, only to have them even closer to her position.

And that wasn't all. Now they were closer in range, she could link to their ear buds again.

"Agent Charlie? Agent Delta? Do you read me?"

"cogerme! Si! We read you!" Emma blinked at the flustered response. She could also hear a long string of Japanese profanities in the back ground.

"GPS says your moving at 50mph? Down the main road?"

"Noriko stole a taxi!" Antonia hissed, and screeching could be heard in the background. "She can't fucking drive but she's doing it! If Alice doesn't kill us, Noriko's driving might!"

"Stop talking! Trying to focus on the road!" The Japanese assassin finally chipped in. "chikushō!"

"Wait wait wait!" Emma was frantically trying to balance the traffic lights around them, reroute police cars, and keep up with their progress. "Is Alice with you?"

"No, but she's on our asses! We have Eve in the car!"

"I tranked the bitch's ass!" Noriko hissed. "Coming to the warehouse!"

"What? You mean now? but-"

"Home base this is Agent Alpha and Beta! We are coming in hot!" Emma nearly jumped out of her chair. she expanded the GPS map and showed another two ID dots coming closer.

"Oh, oh crap! You're both coming at the same time!" The doctor squeaked and put her hands on her head. "Erm, erm, Agent Charlie and Delta will arrive first with one of the packages, the second in close pursuit." Her voice was high pitch, showing that she was losing her cool. "Erm, well, If Agents Charlie and Delta take to the east side, and Agents Alpha and Beta take to the west, then you can draw the targets into the centre. That's where the ambush is."

"Copy that Home base." Antonia responded by reflex.

"Ok, west it is!" Bonnie panted over the coms, clearly running on foot.

Emma's heart rate was pounding in her chest as she heard the wheel screeches of Noriko's driving and the panting of Bonnie and Hetta running.

She also balanced that, her growing anxiety, and making the city's finest run circles around them with the traffic lights.

"AAAA-"

Emma covered her mouth and looked up at the roof of the van. A massive thud hit the roof of the van and she looked right up into the dint above her head.

 _Is that...could that be..._

Her pheromone sensors started beeping in front of her, so she slammed the mute button. _Oh, that's a predator alright._

"There is a bogie on top of home base." Her voice whimpered as she tried to whisper on an open channel to both 'squads'. "Dear God, one of them is on the van. I-"

"Stay calm. Radio silence." Antonia's voice was stern and final. Emma nodded her compliance to no one, and never felt so tense in her life.

With a metallic creak she jerked again, and realised that the predator had jumped off the van. _Has he gone? Am I safe now?_

Emma was trembling, and she turned slowly to look out of the front window of the van.

A red dot appeared on her chest, and out the window she saw the thing of nightmares.

In the darkness she saw a tall creature with glowing blue eyes. he was hard to actually see, but there was definitely something aimed at her. she slowly dropped her big brown eyes down and saw the triad of red dots.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Emma threw herself backwards out of her chair. She scrambled on her hands and knees out of the back of the van and bolted in a straight line. She was panting and sobbing as she shoved the metal fence open and stumbled into the warehouse. Despite the multiple degrees she possessed, and her sharp intellect, she was running on fight or flight now. All she could think about was the fact that Bonnie, Hetta, Antonia and Noriko would be in the warehouse with all their fancy toys and weapons. She had better chances of survival if she ran into one of them.

Her heart pounded in her ears, her legs burned from running through doorways and jumping over broken furniture. Every now and then she heard a snarl behind her, which kept her adrenaline fuelling her rapid escape.

Finally she found someone.

Only to be unsure if that was a _good_ thing.

Antonia and Bonnie were wrestling with Eve on the floor and Noriko and Hetta were tackling Alice. Just as Emma ran in, Eve released a mighty screech and threw Bonnie across the room. The raven haired woman then backhanded Antonia onto the floor and raised her tail to strike.

Already on edge, Emma bolted forward, her foot kicking a metal pipe on the floor. Antonia Hernandez managed to avoid the first few darts of Eve's tail, but it was obvious she was not going to keep that up for long with the woman sat on her. The timid little doc picked up the pipe and slugged Eve's back with all that she had. The Xenomorph hybrid hissed with all she was worth and snapped her body round to snarl at Emma.

Antonia backhanded the hybrid off her and scrambled to her feet.

"Gracias chica." The SAS vet hissed, holding her side and glaring at Eve, who was back on her feet and looking for another round.

Alice roared and threw Noriko and Hetta off her arms.

Eve and Alice shared a look, and bolted into the middle of the room with their backs facing each other. They then started snapping and snarling at the five women surrounding them. All but Emma wore a black battle suit, and all of them were armed, if you counted the pipe Emma now cradled to her chest.

"Alright! We need to divide and conquer!"

"Si! After you Bonnie!"

"How nice of you!"

"Ladies! That bitch has smacked be around like a baka! I'll have the first swing!" Noriko held two wakizashi by her sides, looking drunk on blood lust. "She's mine!"

"Just fucking try it!" Alice roared, exposing her fangs to them and grinning from ear to ear. "My sister and I will pull your limbs off!"

Adrenaline raged through their human and alien veins, and all of them were on edge and battle ready. But who made the first move? It was almost a stale mate as they all watched each other for the first sign of danger.

The sound of gas hissing caught them all by surprise.

"What the fuck?!" Bonnie snapped her head left and right. All the doorways to the room had been sealed, and canisters attached to the walls, ceiling and floor had been released. "We're still in here! Jenkins! That bitch!"

"Oh, I don't think it was Jenkins screwing us over this time." Noriko pointed up to the rafters.

Two masked figures crouched in the rafters, laser sights on them and watching them intently.

"Son of a-our own ambush against us? How the _fuck_ did...did...they...shit..."

The 7 women on the floor started choking and spluttering, gasping for air. The humans all went down first, and Alice managed to grab a hold of Eve before they went down together.

Once they were all out cold, the room was vented and the two predators dropped down on to the floor level to examine their prize.

 _"_ _Well, I can't see K'tan being allowed to keep his pet after it ran away and sided with a hard meat hybrid."_

 _"_ _I guess not. I'll just be glad to return to a real hunt."_

 _"_ _Ta'ryn, these women were...interesting. all armed, all held the fighter's spirit. All with different skills. Wouldn't they make...good candidates?"_

 _"_ _Hmmm."_

The two hunters examined the fallen women and clattered together. _"You know what Sargo, I think you're right. Let's drag them to the holding bay and keep them sedated."_

 _"_ _Alright, but I get the weapons expert. I saw her first, remember?"_

 _"_ _Yeah yeah yeah."_


	7. Let the trials begin

_What's that loud noise?_

A whistling sang in her ears like a siren.

 _So cold..._

She shivered and tried to hold herself.

Her arms wouldn't move. Her body wouldn't move.

Shock and alarm snapped her out of her dazed state, and she snapped her hazel eyes open in shock.

Emma blinked against the bitter air that sailed past her face, and she started panting and looking around her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She was falling!

Emma screamed again, and finally managed to bring her hands in towards her body.

She could see deep green land coming ever closer to her by the second. Why was she falling? What did she fall from? How the hell did she go from passed out on the warehouse floor with all the others, to falling by herself? She scanned around her and noticed that no one else was failing downwards like she was. Not that Emma could see.

The sound of a strange beeping noise snapped her out of her headless chicken routine, and brought her attention to her chest. She pressed her hands to a glowing red octagon on her chest.

A parachute! She was wearing a parachute! She became elated at the prospect she was actually going to live, and pressed it.

Nothing.

She pressed it again.

Just as she was starting to panic again, she pressed the button a third time and it finally released.

Her body jerked, winding her slightly, but her body snapped from horizontally falling, to dropping length ways. Her hands scrambled to grip the control lines. She found the lines, but she had no control over anything. Her decent was now a lot slower, but she was still falling.

It took her minutes to fall through a clearing between the trees and tumble over her ass a few times before she was on the floor, sore as hell, and covered by her own parachute. "OOwwwww." She groaned, her bones having been severely rattled. She also had a very fuzzy head. "Was I drugged?"

Gingerly she managed to push up onto her hands and knees, then knelt up and inspected herself for injuries. A bit battered and bruised, but alright. She pushed the parachute off her body and shrugged off the harness. She wobbled to her feet and looked around her. "Where the...?"

It was a tropical rain forest. She'd been pushed out of a plane above the amazon somewhere. "Just great. I bet this is Jenkins idea of punishment for failing. I wouldn't put it past her." the scientist grumbled and looked down her body.

She was wearing an army regulation camo-suit. She patted herself down and saw that on her left bicep the sleeve held the insignia of the red cross. Emma raised a brow at this strange outfit, then realised she was wearing a backpack as well. Slipping it off her shoulders she crouched down with it on the leafy floor and examined the contents. It was a medical kit! There was adhesive and compression bandages, burn dressing, iodine solution, antibiotic ointment, water-purification tablets and "quikclot" packets.

"Well that should come in handy."

"AAAAA!" Emma threw herself backwards and screamed in terror.

"Relax Emma, it's me."

"Bonnie that wasn't FUNNY!"

Despite herself, Bonnie laughed anyway.

"I'm sorry. It's just been an hour since I came too and fell into a damn tree." The blue eyed bounty hunter smiled with relief and dropped onto floor next to her nerdy friend. "Luckily someone was pervy enough to undress me, but kind enough to redress and arm me afterwards." She pointed to her new attire and smirked. Emma blinked a few times, still in a bit in shock, but looked over her friend.

She was wearing brown combat boots, cream khakis with a black fabric belt and a white tank wife beater tank top on. on top of that she wore a black body warmer, with the compartments full of ammo. There was a belt of shotgun clips slung across her chest, and another around her hips. on her back were two shotguns in holsters, with a machete strapped to each side of her belt. Her long brown hair was tied back into a low ponytail and she wore a black bandana on her head with a white skull positioned on the top of her forehead.

"You look-"

"Like a stereotypical red neck bounty hunter." Bonnie chuckled and shrugged. "Yup. Although, the shotguns are all fully loaded and in working order, so it's no joke." The bounty hunter scanned their surroundings warily. "I'm clearly expected to use them..."

"I have medical supplies for some reason." Emma got to her feet and put the back pack over her shoulders again. "And I'm dressed like an army doctor."

"Hmmm, why is that I wonder? You're a lab rat aren't you? no offence."

"None taken." She chuckled and also scanned the trees around them. "But erm... _i did_ serve with the forces soon after med-school. I _am_ a doctor, I just chose to go into research instead of practise."

"No shit?"

There was an awkward pause for a moment. "Listen, when we were last together, we were being knocked the fuck out by Jenkin's ambush gone wrong." Bonnie put her hand on Emma's tense shoulder. "But I half expected to wake up in a holding cell with the bitch herself yelling at us for failing, congratulate us for succeeding, or you know." Bonnie shrugged. "Wake up dead."

"Yeah, why would we be in a forest?"

"Or 'dropped' here."

"And who by?"

That was a scary thought. what if they weren't here because of Jenkins?

"Hay!" the girls tensed and snapped their heads over to the left tree line. They both held their chests and relaxed when they saw who it was Hetta stomped out of the tree line with a big smile on her face. "Oh man, am I glad to see you guys!"

"Right back at'cha. Nice digs." Brown walking boots, green waterproof khakis, brown long sleeved t-shirt and backpack. "You look like you've stepped out of Tomb Rader, or Indiana Jones."

"A mixture of both if you look in my bag." The German biologist reached them, and embraced them. "I have a compass, an _empty_ water bottle, a trowel, a pencil and a blank diary, and finally-" Hetta pulled a hunting knife from her hip and waved it affectionately at them. "-something useful."

"I'll say." It was one hell of a knife. Too small to be a machete, but big enough to gut a person.

"I had a knife like this in the Congo."

"Well that's three for three." Emma murmured to herself. "Well _we_ all found each other. Let's see if we can find the others."

"Sure. Sounds like a piece of cake." Bonnie led the way towards the trees to the right hand side. "Now I know I said I was good at tracking people, but I've never had to find people in a jungle, that were dropped from a plane before. so..." she put her hands on her hips and sighed. "This might take a while."

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 _Elsewhere_.

Antonia Hernandez sat on a rock by a river and brought water to her lips. She was dressed in what might as well have been her old uniform. Black fire resistant boots, black combat trousers and jacket covering a plain black tank top. Her back held a sniper rifle, clipped to her front was an assault rifle. She'd taken the balaclava off and shoved it in one of the pockets of her jacket. Her long raven hair hung over her shoulder in a braid, and her curved fringe stuck to her forehead slightly. It was very humid here. Antonia sighed and wiped the back of her fingerless gloved hand on her forehead.

"Toni." Antonia jerked and lifted her assault rifle, swinging it round with her body to the source of the noise.

Squatted in front of her was a woman in black. All she could see was a pair of cold brown eyes looking back at her through a black mask. "Do not fire Toni-san. It is me, Noriko." The woman rose to her full height and looked so agile, it was impressive. She wore a black fabric ninja suit, fitted to her lithe form with straps of fabric. Her shoes were shaped like her tabi socks underneath, and she was armed to the teeth. Two wakizashi attached to each hip, shuriken attached to her gauntlets and a long Yumi (bow) and quiver on her back.

"Well you look authentic."

"Hai." Noriko pulled the lower part of her mask down under her chin. "I'm pleased with the wardrobe change. I _will_ however kill the teme who put his hands on my unconscious body."

"I second that." Noriko replaced her mask and turned to look to the tree line suddenly. "What?"

"A noise."

"I didn't hear-"

Noriko pulled her bow from her back, angled an arrow along her thumb on the handle and lowered into one knee in one fluid motion. Choosing not to question the instincts of the crazy-ninja-assassin, Antonia also prepared herself. She looked down the lens of her sniper rifle and waited.

A few painfully silent seconds passed, before the sound of swearing and wining came through the forest.

"I'm telling you I think they went this way."

"Are you sure? That was hardly a foot print back there."

"Hetta, seriously, I did this for a career. It was a partial boot print. Army regulation issue, or something damn similar."

Antonia and Noriko replaced their weaponry and waited for the friends to join them. "See! A sight for sore fucking eyes!"

Bonnie, Hetta and Emma hurried through the tree line to them and pounced on Antonia, hugging the hell out of her.

They all looked to Noriko like they _thought_ about hugging her...and just waved at her instead. "Man you look _wicked_ cool there Noriko."

"Arigato." The Shinobi drawled, bored already. "I see you're alive. Good." She slowly scanned them all with her eyes. "Are you all armed?"

"Yes." Bonnie held the handles of her machetes on her hips and nodded down at them. "Blades and shotguns too."

"I have a hunting knife." Hetta added, running a hand back through her short blonde hair.

"Erm...unless anyone has a penicillin or iodine allergy, I'm pretty harmless." Emma pointed behind her to the back pack. "I'll be useful if you get injured though."

"Interesting."

Noriko held her masked chin and narrowed her eyes on Emma. "They must see you as a member of our team, but in a support role."

"They?" Antonia held her assault rifle close to her body and stepped up to the ninja. "Who is they?"

"The predators." Noriko lifted her head to look up at the canopy, like she was looking for an observer. "We have been put somewhere remote. We are all armed with something we are _known_ to be specialised and skilled in using. I am wearing a classic Edo period Shinobi robes. Antonia is wearing an SAS uniform, and you two look like a bounty hunter and a field biologist to me." Noriko shrugged and then looked to Emma. "I thought you were a lab worker?"

"I served in the army as a field doctor after medical school. It erm...actually put me _off_ being a practising doctor." She chuckled nervously. "I finished my residency in a medical research facility and stayed in that field of study."

"Tough shit." Noriko played hard ball. "You're a practising doctor now, Emma-chan."

"I don't see what Jenkins _gets_ out of this."

"Nothing. Weren't you listening?" the ninja rounded on Bonnie. "This isn't the hag's work. The predators have put us here."

"Shit." Antonia looked around them, on edge at that prospect. "She's right. What would Jenkins get from arming us like this? It wasn't Jenkins watching us in that warehouse. It was the predators."

"Oh no..." Emma held her chest with one hand and felt her heart beat quicken. "You mean after the gas knocked us out... _they_ took us?"

"And put us here." Noriko walked around the group of women, every alert, ever looking for the enemy. "With weapons. What do you use weapons for?"

"To fight." Bonnie gulped. "We're they're fucking pray!"

"But we haven't seen any of them?" Henrietta put her hands on her hips, still finding this all a little farfetched. "Surely if the predators put us here to hunt, they'd have been _hunting_ us?"

"Unless they were waiting." Noriko stole everyone's attention. "When I am hired to take out a group of targets, like a yakuza sect that has gotten a little big for their boots...I don't pick them off one at time." She turned to look at the eerily, blood lust dancing in those dark brown eyes. "I taunt them, put them on edge. They gather to be stronger in numbers..." the girls all looked at each other, realising that's what they had just done. "...and I take them all out at once. Chase them down, put them down." The Shinobi then shrugged. "For a big job I hire back up. If I was taking _us_ out..."

She ran over to the group suddenly, making them all flinch and watch her crazy eyes. "I'd start with the weakest person. to panic them. Then, I'd take out their strongest person, to get under their skin and make them feel helpless."

"Oh shit." Emma pined and held herself. "I'm going to die first."

"No you won't." Hetta pulled the trembling brunette into her arms and rubbed her biceps. "You'll be fine. We'll all work together to get through this."

"Get through what?" Noriko countered. "Do _you_ know where we are?"

"The Amazon?" Emma offered.  
"Alright." Noriko put her hands on her hips and looked around them. "Where are all the exotic animals? Have you heard a bird even _once?_ Crickets? Howling monkeys? Anything?"

"Shit." Bonnie gulped. "Look, let's just find a town and call for some help."

"In which direction do you suggest we go?" Noriko put Bonnie on the spot.

"You know, you're not helping here."

"Do you see these?" Noriko pulled something from her lower back. she held two wooden cylinders with hand grips on them, and metal hooks curving from the tops. "These are called Tegaki. I use them for climbing. One of the first things I did when I landed was got to higher ground and map out my surroundings." She put the hooks away, and more than a hint of concern layered her voice. "I couldn't see an edge to this jungle, and I saw..." she hesitated and looked to one side.

"What?" Bonnie charged forward, really freaking out now. "What did you see?"

"I saw...planets."

"Ok. Maybe we're somewhere you can see the moon and-"

"There were four planets." Noriko cut her off. "Very close, just above the atmosphere. One of them was a smaller planet, orbiting one of the others."

"That is _impossible_..." Antonia held her cheek and gasped. "I mean, I only got a B in GCSE Physics, but even _I_ know that you can't see that many planets, that close in the solar system, from any point on Earth. N-not without a telescope."

"Hold on a fucking second." Bonnie barked and grabbed Antonia's shoulders. "Are you two telling me we've been bitch-napped by the predators, shoved on an _alien_ planet, and you think they've done all of this so they can hunt us?"

"We should never have worn those tech suits." Hetta held her mouth, her big blue eyes watering. "Why else would they think we were worth hunting if it wasn't for-"

"Alice and Eve." Emma chipped in.

"Well yes but-"

"No!" Emma squeaked, and pointed through them all to the other side of the river. " _Alice and Eve_."

Everyone whipped round in a flurry of panic and drew their weapons.

"Wait!"

Alice was the first of the alien girls they noticed. She was dressed...like a barbarian! She wore sandals that had cords, crossing and tying over her shins. She was wearing a fishnet _suit_ , and on top of that she wore a short brown hanging skirt that attached through one vertical strip to a matching halter neck top. Her long brown dreads swung around behind her as she ran, and she seemed to be wearing metallic looking gauntlets.

As Alice struggled to get closer to them, it became obvious that she was carrying Eve as well. "Help! Please!"

Everyone stayed on edge as Alice reached the river. "Please, Eve, she-she's hurt really bad, she-"

"What happened?" Emma tried to go to the hybrids, but Bonnie grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

"There were these...dog _things_. They attacked us. We managed to kill most of them, but one had me pinned down and Eve...she saved me. But it bit her." Alice's big amber eyes were pouring with distraught tears. "Please, help me. She was fine for a while, but then she just fell over. I haven't been able to wake her. Please, I don't know what to do. Please help me. I-I can't lose her."

"Maybe she has an infection?" Emma made another attempt to get to the patient. "Bonnie, what are you doing?"

"We weren't exactly on the best of terms when we last met, remember?" Bonnie watched Alice intently down the sight of her shotgun.

"Please!" Alice sobbed. "She's so cold! I promise I'll do whatever you want. Just save my sister!"

"Emma don't-"

Emma O'Riley was not about to let someone die for no damn good reason. She barged over stepping stones in the river and reached Alice and Eve.

"How long has she been out?" Emma took Eve's pale wrist in her hand, pressed her fingers to it and timed her pulse in her head.

"At least an hour. I-I think." Alice whimpered, cradling her sister in her arms on the floor. "I woke up falling."

"We all did sweetie." Emma gave her a brave smile and touched her shoulder. "We found each other though, that's all that matters. We'll...figure out the rest." Returning to the patient, she opened her eyes for inspection. She wanted to test her pupil reactions...

...but Eve's eyes were completely black. "ah, never mind then. Well her heart rate is a bit high. And she feels calmly but cool to the touch... Ok, show me the wound."

"Her leg." Alice gently turned her sister in her arms to expose her left leg for inspection. It was this point where the rest of the women decided to come closer, just encase. "I stopped the bleeding pretty quickly. I used some water from downstream to wash it."

"Did you cover the wound with anything?" Emma, falling back into old habits like she'd never left the battlefield. She examined the large bite wound and winced.

The spacing between the teeth marks showed her that the 'dog' had a very wide jaw and sharp teeth. The wound looked angry, and slightly yellowish in colour due to her 'special' blood, but that didn't worry her.

What did worry her was the red swelling around the teeth marks.

"I, I had to wipe the blood off her. we didn't want the dogs to follow us if she kept bleeding." Alice looked around warily, seeing she was surrounded by the human women. If they pounced on her now..."I used a leaf and-"

"What?!" Emma blinked rapidly at Alice. "What did the leaf look like? Did it have a certain smell? Was there a residue on it?"

"I-I don't know. It was just a leaf. It mostly burnt up as soon as I dropped it anyway so-"

"Oh dear." Emma yanked the bag off her back and started rummaging. " _anything_ could have been on that leaf. The plant could secrete toxins, have a natural bacterial colony living symbiotically on its surface, or an animal could have left any of an _array_ of pathogens on it."

"What does that mean?" Alice's thick lips wobbled. "Is this _my_ fault?"

"No dear." Hetta lowered to her knees by Alice's side and placed her hand on the hybrid's shoulder. "You weren't to know. You were just trying to take care of your sister."

"Well, Eve may be half Xenomorph, but she is _still_ half human." Emma muttered more to herself than anyone else. "her immune system shouldn't be _too_ different...I hope...All I've really got is penicillin, hoping she has a bacterial infection, and iodine to sterilise the wound. It's already scabbed, so if I bandage the wound, her blood shouldn't eat through it." She loaded a needle with the handy antibiotic, flicked the hypodermic to get rid of any air bubbles and looked to Alice. "I need to give Eve a shot if we have any hope of fighting this infection. It's odd enough that she hasn't got a fever of any kind. Once I've cleaned and dressed the wound, we need to get her warm."

"O-ok." Alice nodded, her brown dreads bouncing with the movement.

Everyone watched, tense and on edge, as Emma found a viable vein and injected the drug as quickly as she could. She pulled the needle out and dropped it to one side with a girly squeal. Eve's acidic blood might not be as strong as a pure Xenomorph, but it was still burning through the needle at a decent rate.

"Hopefully her blood's pH won't denature the penicillin."

"Can I help?" Bonnie knelt by Alice's other side, weapons sheathed once more and her happy go lucky smile back on her face.

"You could help Alice hold Eve still as I wash the wound and dress it."

"Sure thing."

As Emma got to work, swabbing the wounds with iodine, Bonnie took charge of holding Eve's skeletal tail. She then turned to look at Alice, who was watching Emma intently. "You know, we've kinda had a bad start."

"You were hunting me." Alice blinked and fixed her big amber eyes on the bounty hunter. "We fought." She then furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Why are we here?"

"Ah, yes, we have a theory about that actually."

"But first." Hetta rubbed Alice's arm, and got her attention. "Let's explain _why_ we were looking for you."

She tried to be as quick as possible, and still include enough detail to get over their point of view. "You see, _none_ of us _wanted_ to chase you. Jenkins-" Alice snarled, exposing a set of upper and lower fangs as she did so, making the women flinch. "Well, she forced us to look for you. She threatened our friends, our families, our work. Everything."

"Personally I was routing that the Predators would take you in." Bonnie added. "And I _really_ wanted to sink my right hook into that woman."

Emma finished washing the wound, and started to wrap bandages around it.

"You...wanted us to be free?"

"It would have served Jenkins right." Bonnie sniggered and winked at her. "I only hunt bad guys. You're not bad. I can tell." She then chuckled again. "I'm Bonnie, by the way." Alice nodded.

"And I'm Henrietta, but please call me Hetta." The blonde on her other side added. "The woman dressing Eve's wound is called Emma." The doctor lady paused to wave at the introduction, then continued.

"Bonnie, Hetta, Emma." Alice tried out for good measure.

"I am Antonia, but Toni is easier." Still a little on edge, but no weapons in her hand, Toni put her hands on her hips and nodded to the hybrid. "It looks like we've all been thrown into hell together. Might as well work together if we want to have any hope of surviving this bullshit."

"Toni..." Alice nodded, memorising her face. She then turned to look at the woman in black. "And who are you?"

All eyes went to Noriko, who just stared down at Alice. She still had her Wakizashi in each hand, and looked very reluctant to reveal _anything_ to this woman.

"That's Noriko." Bonnie supplied Alice, and sniggered. "She's a prickly bitch, so don't take it personally. You'll get used to her, she'll get used to you."

"Ok..." Alice looked around them all, thinking and calculating as she did so. "...I'm Alice."

"We know." Noriko finally spoke, and sheathed her wakizashi, swearing to herself in Japanese under her breathe.

"...i'm...Eve..."

"Eve!" Alice patted her sister's pale cheek and beamed a smile. "You're ok?! You're going to be ok now."

The pale woman half opened her black eyes and groaned in pain. She flexed the injured leg a bit, and looked around them all.

"You...want to trust them..."

"I..." Alice took her eyes from her sister and looked around them. "I...think we'll have to."

"Ok..."

"Wait, so are we friends now?" Emma, finished with her work, shuffled up to examine Eve a little closer.

"Seriously?" Noriko hissed, looking at Antonia for back up. "We were fighting for our lives against these two science projects, and now we're playing nice?"

"Yes." Toni ground back. "And you'll like it, understood?"

"chikushō!" the ninja hissed to one side and stormed over to the crouched group of women. "If you try to harm any of us, even once, either of you, and I'll cut you open like that." she clicked her fingers, to prove her point.

Alice snarled back, overcome with the urge to rise to that challenge.

"No! No we're friends!" Emma hugged Alice, startling the hybrid, and pointed at Noriko. "Bad ninja! Very bad ninja!"

"Baka." Noriko hissed, but stormed away from the group. This seemed to calm Alice immediately, as she relaxed and turned to blink at Emma.

"Friends?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Alice looked down at her sister. The Xeno-hybrid had closed her eyes, so very tired, but seemed to feel her sister's gaze.

 _If you want to be friends with them, I'll be nice to them too. That one just healed my leg. She's gentle. I like her._ Alice chuckled and turned to smile at Emma. Alice stroked her fingers through her sister's raven hair and smiled at the puzzled human.

"Eve says she likes you."

"She does? Well, she's a very good patient."

"Can we stop sniffing each other's asses in an opening where we could be shot at? Please?"

"Noriko's manners aside, she has a point." Antonia held her assault rifle at the ready. "I suggest we get to some shelter. I'll take point, Noriko, take our six."

"Your what?" Noriko retrieved her bow from her back and held an arrow ready.

"The back of the group." The military woman clarified, rolling her brown eyes, and headed to the front of the group. "Bonnie, you have a firearm. Can you watch the middle of the group? Hetta, you stay close to Emma. Emma, stay with Alice and help her carry Eve."

"No need." Alice rose to her feet with her sister in her arms, like she weighed nothing. "I can carry Eve on my own. You could...walk with me anyway. If you want to..."

"Sure." Emma chuckled and stood by the side that Alice held Eve's head. that way she could monitor them both. "I suggest that we make a point of having a good drink of water before we leave, and then find a food source as well. We could do with looking for anything that could be a container for water."

"I have a small bottle." Hetta hurried to fill it with water. "It won't last long though."

"It will have to do." Antonia waited for them all to take formation, and nodded. "Alright people, let's head out."


	8. Hounded by the enemy

It had been a long day. They had covered a large area, but their surroundings still hadn't changed. Hetta tried using her compass, but the needle kept spinning out of control. She put it away as it did nothing but freak everyone out, confirming further that they were not on earth.

Eventually they found a natural cave opening and decided to rest there. It should have been night time, but the sun was still blaring so the cave at least gave them some darkness to sleep in.

"Alright, we need to run shifts on sleep. Two people need to be awake at all times to protect the others. One of these two needs to be armed with a fire arm of some sort." Antonia finished patrolling the cave, making sure it had a dead end, and walked through the weary group of women to the opening. "This is a good position to defend as we can't be flanked, but we can be trapped if we're not careful."

"I'm too freaked out to sleep." Bonnie pulled her black and white skull bandana off her head and ran a hand back through her brown hair. "I'll take first watch."

"I'll join you." Toni added. "everyone else, share out the water we have collected and get some rest. Who will take the next watch?"

"I will." Hetta put her hand up as she dropped to her rump.

"I will join you." Noriko took her bow and quiver off and settled her back up against the side of the cave. Apparently she intended to sleep sat up...

Toni nodded. She hoped Noriko was very damn good with her 'fire arm'.

"Alright. After that we'll probably need to get moving again anyway. Rest up people."

Bonnie huffed off the floor and joined Antonia at the cave entrance. The two women hurried to roll two large rocks from outside the cave, to the entrance. They would be perfect for them to duck behind if they did come under fire. Antonia had her sniper rifle perched on its stand, on the floor, just peering out from behind her rock on the left side of the entrance. Bonnie sat with her back against her rock and had one shotgun on her back, one in her hand.

The bounty hunter looked at the group of sleeping women in the cave and frowned.

Emma had instructed Alice to put Eve between them, and they were both hugging her as they slept, trying to raise her body temperature. They looked so vulnerable...Alice was still in shock, panicking and her mind was only on her injured sister. Eve was out of it, and Emma was a sweet little doctor who preferred microscopes to treating real people.

"They shouldn't be here."

"None of us should." Toni whispered back, looking over her rifle at her. Bonnie turned her head to give her worried frown to the Hispanic solider.

"Why would they bring us here?"

"To hunt." Toni sighed. "I'm an SAS special ops veteran, and I worked for Black ops for a while too."

"Wait." Bonnie raised a brow. "Aren't they the ones the government deny having and deny sending in to fuck up the place?"

"Si." Toni chuckles softly, trying not to wake the others. "And you are one of the best bounty hunters in the country."

"Well I wouldn't say the _best_ but-"

"I read your file on the RV." Toni settled back to looking down the sight of her rifle, scanning the jungle. "When the FBI can't find an escaped convict, they call you. regularly. But deny having involved you due to your...tactics." the good little soldier chuckled and smirked down the sight. "Like the black ops of bounty hunting."

"Well thank you very much. Flattery will get you everywhere." Bonnie smiled, but still couldn't lift her spirits. "What does the fact that we kick ass have to do with us being here?"

"Noriko Shinju is a top class assassin who, by her own admission, works for whatever government or agency will pay high enough for her services. Hetta, despite being a biologist, has one _hell_ of a punch."

"Yeah I asked her about that." Bonnie leaned towards Toni slightly and tied her bandana back on her head, keeping her brown hair out of her way. "Apparently she used to box a little at Uni."

"And she could certainly keep up with Alice. They are both similar in their height and build."

"I called her an Aryan once...oh boy did she look like she was going to knock my block off. this was _after_ I mistook her for a personal trainer or something when we first met."

"Si." Toni rolled her brown eyes and raised a brow over at the clumsy bounty hunter. "Well, putting all that into consideration, now think about Alice and Eve. Human alien hybrids with great speed, strength and agility. Instincts and power. Then imagine yourself in the shoes of the predators, watching us all going at each other's throats."

"Yeah, even Emma looked pretty bad ass with that pipe..."

"Exactly." Antonia sighed and licked her dry lips. "Without meaning to, the predators found seven women who were formidable, armed, and very dangerous. Perfect pray for a good hunt. That's their M-O, right? Hunt the worthy for the glory of the thing. Honour or something."

"Wait a damn minute." Bonnie hissed under her breath, trying to be quiet as well as pissed off. "Are you saying we're here, _because_ we're badasses? This is _our_ fault?"

"That might be _their_ explanation. Personally I can't wait to shoot a hole through their heads as my reply to their bullshit." She clicked the safety off to prove her point.

"That's my girl." Bonnie chuckled and peered over the rock she sat against. "We're on an alien planet though..."

"Exactly. I imagine, that they don't live here either. So...?"

"They must have a ship."

"Jeeeeez!" Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin. Noriko had 'appeared' behind her in a squat. "Don't _do_ that!"

"Shhh."

Noriko had her bow at full stretch and an arrow taught, resting on her padded thumb. "Do you see it?"

"See what?" Bonnie held her shotgun and turned to kneel behind the rock. "Where am I looking Noriko?"

"I got it." Toni exhaled deeply and squeezed her trigger.

The sound of howling pain rattled through the trees, and woke everyone in the cave.

"What was that?!" Emma scrambled to her knees, about to get to her feet, but Alice pulled her back down. "Wh-"

"Stay down, and stay with Eve." Alice growled. She crawled on her hands and feet over to Antonia's side and bore her fangs at the air. Hetta helped Emma move Eve out of the middle of the cave and to one side. The tall German also brandished her hunting knife, trembling as much as Emma was. "Toni. Are we under attack? It sounded like one of those dog things."

"Fuck." Bonnie hissed, seeing the glimmer of many eyes in the bushes.

"Clam yourself." Noriko's voice was so calm, she seemed more relaxed now than ever before.

Fwip. Barely a noise escaped her bow as she released the arrow. It flew through the air and connected with one of the beasts, releasing another howl of anguish. "It has begun."

"I got another one in my sights." Toni squeezed the trigger. Another animalistic scream of death shuddered down their spines. "Down."

The recon dogs had been taken out, but the main pack had now arrived. Six of the largest canine _beasts_ the girls had ever seen bounded out of the tree line.

'Dog' was a kind word to use. They had four legs, sure. But they were more reptilian in their leather skin, clawed feet, big eyes and fang like rows of teeth. They were dark green in colour, had various different coloured 'saddle' patterns on their backs, and large spines standing erect from their backs. Their wide jaws were almost not as terrifying as the FOUR forward curved tusk like horns framing EITHER SIDE of their heads.

Eight more ways it could kill you.

"Do not panic! Do not waist ammo!" Toni shouted, taking one of the charging mutts down. She pulled the bolt to load the next bullet and lined up to shoot the closet dog. Before she could squeeze the trigger, she watched an arrow zip into one of the dog's large eyes, deep into its brain, and causing the beast to tumble to the floor. Dead.

 _I guess Noriko is good with her 'fire arm' after all_.

She wasted less than a millisecond, turning her sight onto the next dog and take it out.

The remaining four had managed to get too close for long range combat. Toni swapped to her assault rifle, and Noriko pulled out her wakizashi.

Close combat fighting...

Bonnie stepped out from behind her rock, pumped the barrel, and emptied a buck shot into the face of the first dog. She pumped the double barrel again, and pressed the end of the barrel into the mouth of another beast as it launched at her.

Bonnie yelled a battle cry as she tumbled backwards and pulled the trigger, blowing the brains of the creature up and the cave ceiling. She then shoved the beast off her and hurried to reload her weapon.

Meanwhile Antonia had shot a quick burst to kill another of the alien dogs, but it managed to take the shot to it's thick hide instead, and landed inside the cave.

It took a buck shot in the ass from Bonnie, and kept going.

It was about to land claws and jaw first on Emma, Eve and Hetta, and Hetta's hunting knife, but it jerked to the side suddenly.

With a terrifying roar, Alice tackled the beast to the side and pinned it to the floor. The beast swung it's tusk framed head, throwing the Yautja hybrid onto her back.

"Alice!" Emma and Hetta scrambled to go help her.

"NO!" Alice snarled, gripping the lower tusks of the creature, holding it's snapping jaws above her face. "Protect Eve!"

Emma and Hetta scurried back to Eve, keeping the unconscious woman behind them. They watched as Alice roared in the face of the beast and seemed to just hold it above her...

...until the beast started pining and howling in pain.

Crack, squelch, and ooze.

Alice pulled the lower tusks apart with such force, she broke its lower jaw, pulling its face open. Blood poured down onto her chest, but she didn't stop.

Once the tusks were completely separated from the beast, she threw a hand into the bleeding flesh of the creature, grabbed it's wind pipe and pulled.

With a snarl of victory, she pulled out a chunk of its wind pipe, ignoring the claws that lashed out at her arms.

The creature dropped to her side, twitching and gasping as it died, quickly losing the fight and bleeding out. Alice was covered with dark red blood, and she wasted no time.

Another wave of alien dogs had charged through the tree line. Toni and Noriko took out most of them, Bonnie using a shotgun in each hand to take out another four, and Alice took out any that got past them.

Panting, adrenaline coursing through their veins, they waited for the next wave.

When it didn't come, Bonnie and Alice were actually disappointed.

They all held their position for a good 20 minutes of silence before taking cover and taking a deep breath.

"Good work people." Toni got back down on the floor and looked down her sight at the tree line. "I think we passed their test."

"Dobe. Thinking we would fall to dogs. Pah!" Noriko sniggered.

"They were _some_ dogs." Bonnie exhaled deeply. "I would have _loved_ to have one of them in my pack when I took down the Texan butcher."

"Sounds like a good story." Toni pulled the bolt to reload her sniper rifle. "When we get off this fucking planet, tell me it over a beer."

"You got it, and you're buying, sharp-shooter."

"I need to retrieve my arrows." Noriko broke their moment of relieved humour, and put them all on edge again.

"I'll come with you." Bonnie gulped, reloaded both shotguns and slowly followed the ninja out of the cave.

"They are gone." Noriko spoke, the closest thing to being reassuring as she got.  
"Yeah, no offence, but the guns just make me feel safer. Thanks."

"Very well."

Toni watched around them through her sight, and was on edge until they returned to the cave.

"What's the plan fearless leader?" Bonnie addressed Toni directly.

Antonia blinked over at the bounty hunter, and realised that she _had_ taken the lead. She'd told them how to move through the forest, how to take turns in night watch, and took point.

"I think they've tested us. I think they won't come back until they've used what they've learnt to make a plan. we should stay here for a while."

"Alright." Hetta got up and put her hand on Alice's bloody shoulder. "You are one scary woman. I'm glad you're on _our_ side."

"Thank you for protecting my sister." Her voice was quiet. She was still very worried for her wellbeing.

"No worries. Now, if we're staying here, I don't want to sleep next to _that_." The German pointed down at the mangled corpse. "Help me move it?"

Alice nodded, and they dragged the alien dog's body to the entrance, then threw it out amongst the others. When they came back, the hybrid spotted the two tusks she'd 'liberated' from the beast. She picked them up...and examined them closely. They were strong enough to pierce flesh, sharp enough to do it with ease. They were as long as Hetta's hunting knife, if not longer. She nodded to herself, and looked down at her hanging skirt. There were loops on her belt, and she looked to the tusks. She put them in the loops, and they seemed to auto-lock around them.

 _Hmm, this is a weapons belt._ the tusks hung over her left hip, and they looked good! At least, Alice thought so.

They all settled down again, Alice seeming not to care she now had blood stains on her clothing and caked to her skin, and slept like a kitten. She held Eve close to her, and Emma settled on her other side again.

Hetta stayed close to Emma, concerned that she didn't have a weapon to protect herself with, and the other three women stayed on guard watch. Apparently they felt safer in groups of three instead of two.

Or at least, Noriko wouldn't do as she was told and go to sleep.

What felt about four hours later, Noriko poked Hetta and Emma's arms. They got up, and Bonnie handed Emma and Hetta a shotgun each.

"For good luck." She winked at them, and settled down next to Eve.

The bounty hunter shivered once as Eve's tail coiled over her legs, but she told herself off and huddled closer to her anyway. Alice was also awake, so she got up and asked Antonia to take her place next to Eve. The SAS veteran agreed to, reluctantly, but willingly all the same.

Noriko sat with her back against the wall, her weapons to hand, and almost didn't look like she was asleep.

Alice sat with her shoulder pressed against one of the guard rocks, and Emma sat next to her. Hetta had the rock on the other side of the entrance and they yawned, still a bit sleepy.

"Gott im Himmel. How do we get off this planet?" Henrietta said to the sky and sighed. "As an animal behaviourist, I found the pack behaviour and disregard for the individual's survival _fascinating_ in that species." She nodded towards the cold bodies of the alien dogs. "But...I really just want to go home."

"Same here." Emma sighed. "I miss my lab...my nice warm, safe, twinkie stocked lab."

"MMmm, twinkies." Hetta chuckled, the two scientists amused.

Alice looked out over the rock and looked very sad.

Home.

They wanted to go home.

What was her home? A cage?

"What will happen to my sister and me once we're off this planet?" She asked the women directly. Emma turned from facing Hetta and looked up at the hybrid with sad hazel eyes. She reached up and tucked a stray brown dreadlock behind her ears, and cupped one of her cheeks, looking over her dark brown leopard spots on her tanned skin for a moment. She really was a fascinating example of the beauty of science...she then spotted the claw marks on her shoulders and got to work. Emma was wearing her back pack on her front, so she could quickly open it and get out the iodine and dressings.

"Honestly? Whatever you want." She gently swabbed the claw marks with iodine. "I think we're all past caring what Dr Jenkins might do to us. We're on a planet where we're the form of entertainment by a race of aliens, which we never even wanted to get involved with. If we even survive this, I'll help you find the most remote island on earth, with no possible way of being tracked down by Jenkins, or anyone else."

"And I'll help you build a house. Mein Vater vas sehr gut at building log cabins. He taught me how to plan and build them."

"Really?" Alice beamed a rare smile over them both, her amber eyes looking like liquid gold. Emma stuck sterile dressing to her wounds, and then began wrapping bandages around her neck and shoulders. "You'd help me and Eve hide and make a home?"

"Of course. Although, we might also have to hide on that island with you." Emma chuckled. "Jenkins has a far reach."

Alice looked over to Eve, being cuddled by Bonnie and Antonia and felt like they actually had hope for the first time since K'tan lied to her.

After all, if he'd meant it when he said he'd take her to join the Yautja, she wouldn't be here. Even if this was a punishment for leaving the ship and going to her sister, she'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

 _I love you too Alice._

Eve was still asleep, but it seemed her mind could still reach out to her.

 _A home...would be nice...they could all live with us..._

Even Noriko? Alice thought, looking over to the sleeping ninja.

 _If you want her too. if she wants to._

"Eve likes the idea of you living with us."

"You can...talk psychically?" Hetta, a true behaviourist was teetering on the edge of excitement. "Telepathically?"

"No." Alice settled against the rock and shrugged. "She can communicate with me, and hear my thoughts, but I can't communicate with her. it's...a little one sided."

"I see. Still, I bet that's useful. Is that how she called out to you?" Hetta scanned her baby blues over the tree line once, then looked to Alice again. "We saw some CCTV footage of you running to her rescue."

"Yes. she was cold and scared. She called to me and I came."

Alice turned her amber eyes over to her sister's form once more. "I will always come when she calls. She is my only family."

"Well, we're your family now too." Emma snuggled back against Alice, making the taller woman cock her head to one side and watch her. "What? You're a lot warmer than me."

"Oh. Ok." Alice understood what she was doing now, and wrapped an arm around her.

It was...a little bloody but at this stage in life, Emma preferred to be warm rather than squeamish and cold.


	9. One down and six to go

"Wake up!"

Hetta shouted the alarm, jumping up and holding the shotgun ready.

The whole group woke up and blinked the world into view. Adrenaline coursed through their veins and they all reached for weapons. Alice held the tusks to hand and snarled in readiness for battle. She'd fallen asleep with Emma following suit in her arms. Hetta had let them sleep and kept herself awake.

"What? What is it?" Antonia hurried to Hetta's side, looking out at the small clearing before the tree line with her assault rifle. There was nothing there.

"I closed my eyes for a second. Just a second. I swear." Hetta was trembling, clearly on edge and looked ready to shoot anything that moved. "I closed my eyes, opened them again, and and and nothing!"

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? You're not making any-"

"No she's right." Noriko skidded to the entrance, bow extended along her body and a bow drawing back the string. "There is nothing. The bodies are gone."

It took them a bone chilling moment to realise what she meant...

...there were over a dozen dead alien dog bodies in the clearing and tree line...only bloody stains remained. "They took the bodies."

"I swear I only closed my eyes for a second." Hetta whimpered. "How could they be so fast?"

"Perhaps they're not just fast." Antonia formulated a theory with all the information she was being told. "There were too many bodies out there for one or two predators to move quickly."

"There's a whole pack of them." Alice snarled, standing by her sister's side.

"At least the same number of them, as us. That's if they carried on average two dog's bodies each in the few seconds your eyes were closed." Toni felt her heart hammering in her chest, and used her military training to stay cool.

Bonnie however, was going a little loco.

"You have _got_ to be _fucking_ kidding me! Even if they were cloaked, you'd have seen the bodies _fucking floating_ , right? So even cloaked, there still had to be a _ton_ of the bastards. Shit. Shit shit shit shit-"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Hetta stormed over to Bonnie, trembling, but trying to look in control. "We need to go. Now."

"Right. Right, yeah you're right." Bonnie nodded her head furiously.

"I can't really shoot." The blonde giant handed the shotgun back to its owner. "But I'd appreciate a machete."

"Sure. Not my style anyway." They exchanged weapons, and Hetta seemed to feel instantly better with the monstrous blade by her side. "Emma."

"Hmm?" The doctor had been checking over Eve, seeing if she was ready to be moved when she was addressed.

"Here. You take a machete too."

"Oh, I don't know how to-"

"When you are being attacked by those bastards, you will learn quickly, or you will die." Noriko took the machete from Bonnie, and transported it over to Emma. "That way, we are less likely to get killed protecting your ass. Ne?"

Emma's lips trembled, coming back to the realisation she was indeed the weakest link in their chain. She nodded through her restrained whimpers, took the blade, and used the gun holder on the back pack to hold it in place.

"No need to be a bitch Noriko." Bonnie grumbled and put her hand on Emma's drooped shoulder.

"I _am_ a bitch." The Shinobi walked past them all and to Toni. "You're military training has been useful so far. I don't like anyone being the boss of me, but I'll do what I must to survive. I'm not used to working in a group like this, whereas you are. So lead us. What do we do next?"

Toni gulped and looked around the women. They were all waiting for her wonderful insight on survival tactics. For her to lead them to safety.

"Right, well they clearly know where we are and we've proven that we can defend this position. We have two choices." Toni leaned back against the large guard rock and shrugged her shoulders. "We could stay here and defend it, but then how long for? We need to get off this damn planet and get home. We're not going to do that in a cave."

"So we need to move out?" Noriko nodded, seeing her logic.

"We need to stay together, in the same formation we used yesterday. We need to find some food, as a priority, and more water too if we can." She pulled away from the rock and strapped her sniper rifle to her back, and her assault rifle to her front. "We also need to try and stay out direct sunlight to avoid heat stroke, and then there are our lovely _hosts_."

"Well they sent in their dogs and we fucked them up." Bonnie grinned from ear to ear, her shotguns back in their holsters on her back. "I say bring it."

"They will not use dogs again." Noriko spoke with dark certainty. "They watched our reaction, gathered information about our skills. They will try to work out our weaknesses and target them."

"Probably in person." Toni finished off and walked into the cave entrance, looking out at the jungle before them. "Why else would we be here, if they didn't intend to 'have the honour of hunting us'?"

"Shit." Hetta hissed and held her machete tightly. "you think the next wave will be the predators?"

"I know it." Noriko chuckled, sending a chill down their spines.

"So we move out?" Toni turned to look over her shoulder at the women.

"We move out." Alice lifted her sister up into her arms and nodded, determination steady in her amber eyes. "And we survive."

"I like the sound of that." Emma chuckled nervously and the women all for into their positions. Antonia had her assault rifle ready to spray at the enemy if needs be, leading the 'caravan'. Alice carried Eve in her arms in the middle of the group, with Emma right by her side, and Bonnie and Hetta walking in parallel with them. The blonde biologist held her machete ready, and Bonnie had a shotgun ready as well.

Noriko brought up the rear, bow and arrow in her hands but loose.

For now.

The group headed out, unaware of the many eyes that watched them from up above in the canopy.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Later they managed to find some orange looking fruit that was the same shape and texture as a tomato, but as sweet as a mango. Having _gorged_ themselves on this exotic fruit, they stored as many of them as they could in Hetta'a and Emma's back packs.

The day's walk took them from jungles to a deep valley. They found thick covering under a canopy of trees to rest under, and sat with their backs to the wide tree bark as they got off their aching feet.

They didn't talk as much that day, knowing just how likely it was that every moment was their last on this Predators' games reserve. Noriko perched high up in a tree and watched over them from high up. everyone else followed Antonia's instruction to form a tight circle, facing inwards and allowing for maximum covering of their surrounding area. As they rested that night, huddling two a tree where possible to stay warm, Noriko watched one of their group members intently.

Half way through the Day Eve had stopped her 'sister' from helping her walk, and started staggering on her own. By the time they settled down for the night, she was fighting fit again.

And now she was climbing up a tall tree opposite her with fluid ease. _That bitch puts me on edge._

She watched as Eve perched on her hands and feet on a branch parallel to hers, and nodded to her. _well, another look out is useful, but there is no way I'm trusting her. Alice is one thing, Eve is something_ _else_ _._

The Shinobi had her bow drawn loosely and an arrow ready to draw back at a moment's notice. Most of the women settled down to sleep, leaving the Arial members of the group to do the first watch.

Emma however was finding it every difficult to sleep. Not only did it never seem to get dark on this planet, but she couldn't help but feel like the weakest chink in their armour. Yes, she'd been given a machete, but the closest thing she'd ever used to a weapon in her life was a dissection scalpel. She was as likely to harm _herself_ as anyone else, and she couldn't help...but think about the odds of their survival.

 _Sure we found some food today, but we have enough to last us a few days at best before anything we had left goes off. water won't last more than another day, and how can we possibly survive the predators? We managed against their dogs, but the real deal..._ Emma ran a hand back through her messy brown hair and closed her hazel eyes in thought. she remembered the images of predators from Jenkin's data. She'd never actually seen a real one without it's cloak on before... the sound of one jumping on her van back on earth was enough to send her screaming out into danger. Face to face? How would she survive? _I won't. I'm going to die here on this planet..._

She opened her hazel eyes and looked out at her friends. They were all fighters in their own regard. Even Hetta could box. But Emma was a lab rat. She couldn't fight. _Noriko's right. I'm going to put them in danger. I can't protect myself...and I can't let any of them die protecting me._

Emma thought of that lovely little dream she cooked up with Alice about getting back to Earth, finding a deserted island somewhere off the radar...Hetta would build them all a log cabin to live in. The doctor covered her mouth and closed her eyes tight, holding back the tears. Wouldn't that be nice? All of them living together in paradise...safe and happy...

 _That will never happen. We'll all die here. At least I definitely will._

Her eyes watered, and she wiped them away on the back of her sleeve. _I'm a burden to the others. I'm also using up food and water supplies. I...can't stay._ She sniffled and looked at the women. They were all asleep. Bonnie and Alice huddled together, Antonia and Hetta too. Eve and Noriko were in the trees. As she gazed up at them she saw that Eve had her body and tail draped along the branch like a jaguar, sleeping, and only Noriko was keeping an eye out for danger.

Emma took off the backpack and placed it on the floor in front of her. the machete was laid next to it. She then got to her feet and dusted off her army uniform. Tears slugged down her cheeks, and her lips wobbled, but she didn't dare make a noise.

 _I have to go. I have to do this. I'm just going to get them killed if I stay._

She looked up again and saw that Noriko was looking at her. Keeping eye contact with the Shinobi, she slowly backed away from the group. She waited until she'd passed a few of the trees before she turned her face away from the direction of the group. Emma O'Riley walked off into the woods and after what seemed like an age, finally allowed her emotions to spill over. She staggered over to a large slanted rock and dropped her body onto it. fear wracked through her body, so she held herself, weeping as she felt well and truly sorry for herself.

"I-I had to." She whimpered, reasoning with the voice in her head that told her to run back to the safety of the group. "I can't fight. I'm a geek. I'll j-just get them k-killed. I-I can't d-do that to th-them. I c-can't." Emma curled up on her side and sobbed.

"You can't fight?"

Her heart stopped, and her whole body tensed, a coil twisting in her stomach. Then she trembled all over, as she lifted her head to stare with wide eyes at the source of the voice. She pushed up with her hands on the rock slab, and blinked at him.

He was terrifying. The tallest man she'd ever seen. He seemed to have pale green skin and darker mottling around his frame, but that's not what she focused on. Silver plated boots with sharp projections on his knee caps, a silver mesh covering brown tatty shorts and a scale plated groin guard on top of that. Most of his abdomen was exposed, except for a black body mesh he wore. His right shoulder was armour plated and held what looked like a small cannon mounted on it. He was armed to the teeth too. Everywhere she looked she saw weapons. Blade slots on his wrist bracers, metal claws on the ends of his gauntlets, cutting discs and close combat blades strapped to his belt, and then there was the bronze spear he held in his hand like a staff. His mask was silver like the rest of his armour, and had four claw marks slanting across the crest and mouth piece. He cocked his head to one side, making is long black dreadlocks swing with the movement of it.

It was a predator.

Emma was face to face with a predator.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She scrambled off the rock and bolted as fast as her little feet would take her through the trees. Her chest ached with her laboured panting and she could hear her heart beat in her head. Emma had never run so fast in her life, and saw her best attempt of escaping crumble all around her as she ran through a set of bushes.

The good doctor skidded to a stop and forgot how to breathe. Adrenaline thundered through her veins as she looked upon 3...monsters.

They stood on two legs like her. they had two arms like her, and two eyes.

But they were even taller than the predator from before, had elongated claws for slicing flesh, and a hide that looked to be made from something between wood and bone. They noticed her immediately, and screeched with excitement. Emma staggered backwards, only to see one of the monsters leap after her.

Then she turned and bolted _back_ the other way. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"You mother fucker!"

Bonnie fell back into Hetta and Antonia's arms, only to be restrained by them as she tried to get up again. "I'll knock your fucking block off!"

"No Bonnie-chan." Noriko stood tall and narrowed her dark brown eyes, her body still and her gaze fixed calmly on the hissing bounty hunter. "You won't even get close."

"Not helping Noriko!" Antonia snapped at the cold hearted ninja and continued her struggle to hold back.

"You WATCHED Emma leave and you did NOTHING?!" Bonnie struggled so hard that Antonia lost her grip on the bounty hunter. Luckily Hetta still managed to wrestle her back into an arm lock around her shoulders and chest. "How could you?!"

"Easily. She decided to leave. She left her supplies for us to use. Clearly she came to the same conclusion I did the moment we landed here. We won't survive if we have to protect a weak link."

"Emma is not weak." Alice snarled, lashing out in an attempt to grab Noriko's shirt and lift her off her feet. The Shinobi was too fast for her, and not only stepped out of the way but swatted her hand away as well. "She is kind. She healed my sister and me too." The tall hybrid bore her teeth at the ninja, and tried again to grab a hold of the pesky lithe woman. Again she failed.

"Personal feelings and opinions aside, she's gone. Bitching at me won't change that. We need to move on before our bickering provides the perfect distraction for the predators to ambush us."

"I'm so sorry Alice." Eve put her pale hand on her sister's arm. "I fell asleep. I was so tired. I'd have never let her leave had I seen her try."

"I know you wouldn't Eve. You have a heart, unlike this pauk-de!"

"What did you call me?" Noriko pulled a shuriken from her wrist guard.

"I don't know." Alice hissed. "But I know you _are_ one."

"Alright enough." Antonia moved herself to stand between the shortest and tallest members of their make-shift group. "I don't condone Noriko's actions, and I certainly don't forgive her, but she's right about our situation. We are having a bitch fight, in the open, making a lot of noise, with hostiles about. We need to move out, put this behind us, and not do the predators job _for_ them." Toni looked at each woman in turn, seeing them nod in agreement. "That being said, we are going to move out in the direction Emma went, so we can hopefully catch up with her and tell her how stupid she is. Am I understood?"

"I'm walking with you." Bonnie pulled her shotguns off her back and took her position by Toni's side. "If I even _look_ at that skinny bitch I might snap her." Noriko just shrugged, caring very little if they no longer wanted to be her bff anymore. She drew her bow and arrow and brought up the rear. Hetta looked to Alice and Eve, who moved very quickly into position behind Toni and Bonnie and concluded that _she_ was going to be stuck with the pissy Ninja.

 _Great, thanks for that guys._

Cussing to herself in German, the tall blonde took herself over to Noriko's side and said nothing.

The group moved silently, all on high alert and with weapons drawn as they tried to track down Emma.

"Hold on!" Bonnie put her hand up and halted the procession. "I see army boot prints."

"Emma?" Toni enquired, her assault rifle aimed low and her brow raised.

"Oh…well these could be Emma's." Bonnie dropped to a squat and pointed at the regular prints. "But _those_ definitely are _not_ hers."

"What size are those?!" Hetta hurried forward, joining Bonnie at ground level. "Size a hundred?!"

"Not quite." Bonnie pulled the bandanna off her head and wiped her brow with it. she then turned her head to look up at their new fearless leader. "But I think they could definitely belong to a predator."

"Shit."

"Oh it get's worse." Bonnie licked her lips and pointed ahead of the group. "The sets of prints go that way, with a wide spread in the mud between each print."

"What does that mean?" Alice looked over the shoulders of the other women, Eve content just to stand by her side.

"It means…" Bonnie swallowed deeply and rose to her feet, looking down the path. "…Emma ran…and the predator chased her."

"When? Can you tell how long ago this chase happened?" Toni pressed, unable to keep all her anxiety from her tone.

Without even being prompted the group followed Bonnie as she followed the two sets of foot prints. As the strides got further apart Bonnie started running to keep up with them, like she was trying to recreate the scene that made them.

"What the fuck?" Bonnie skidded to a stop and started snapping her head left and right. "Emma's tracks go on for a bit further, but here she's doubled back." Bonnie snapped her head over to a bush and bolted for it. The group followed, brandishing their weapons just encase a predator army were lying in wait behind the foliage.

Bonnie in her eagerness had jumped through the bushes after Emma and the predator's prints first, and jerked to a stop at what she saw.

Bodies.

Hetta squealed and covered her mouth with her hands. The clearing was a bloody massacre. Organs, bones, entrails, blood and chunks of flesh littered the ground before them.

"Oh God…" Antonia slowly came to stand by Bonnie's side. "Emma…is she-"

"These are animal prints." Hetta struggled to keep the bile down, but forced herself to step forward into the bloody battle field. "Like the fossilised raptor prints I studied at university…but a lot bigger." Hetta forced her watering eyes to canvas the scene. "Bonnie, three sets of prints here. I see a lot of entrails, so all three could be here…but I wouldn't able to tell if Emma was here too. This is a pulverised mess."

"We can't be sure she's there." Toni urged. "Right? Bonnie?"

"I…don't know. her tracks disappear. She didn't leave this spot…"

"…she's dead, isn't she?" Alice whimpered and pulled Eve into her arms, seeking comfort. "Emma's dead!"

Noriko watched as the women before her shared their grief. Bonnie was both crying and glaring at the remains.

Hetta finally couldn't hold her stomach any longer, and vomited into a bush to her right. Toni turned her back to the remains and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Alice just wept into her sister's arms…

Eve's bottomless onyx eyes locked onto Noriko and shared her sentiment.

"We can't stay here." Eve spoke, surprising everyone. "We're open to attack. We need to move on and stop wasting time."

"Emma's dead Eve. She's been killed! How can you-"

"She's right." Noriko dared to speak. "We are stood where those predators killed Emma. Standing here is the _worst_ thing we could do. What if they're watching us? Looking for an opening?"

"You heartless bitch." Bonnie about turned and looked 3 seconds away from taking her anguish out on the shinobi. "Emma's dead because of YOU!" Bonnie stormed towards her, but Toni stepped into her path.

"I did NOT gut her. I did not harm her. I didn't put her on this planet." Noriko barked, and held the grip of her wakizashi. "They did, and I'm not dying without putting up a fight."

"You want a fight?" Bonnie snarled over Toni's shoulder. "Come get some."

"Will you two just calm down?!" Toni put her hands on Bonnie's shoulders. "We can't afford to-"

Thwap.

The tree bark by their side….had a dart sticking out of it. "Don't panic. Circle formation! Now!"


	10. Facing the enemy

It felt like they'd been running for months now, not days. Toni found herself permanently placed between Noriko and Bonnie, and had to do her all to keep the group moving. Every time they tried to stop to rest, arrows rained down on them, or those strange dogs were released. It had been three days since they found that bloody mess where Emma's tracks ended, and they were all exhausted.

"I'm so tired." Hetta brought up the rear with Alice and Eve. "And thirsty. Can't we look for water?"

"We can't stop yet." Toni panted. It was so hot on this damn planet. "Not until we find a defensible position."

"Here." Alice handed a dry slice of melon to the blonde woman. "If you break it open, there might be some juice in the flesh."

"Thank you." Alice smiled her toothy smile and turned to share a look with her sister.

 _They don't look like they'll make it for much longer._ Eve's voice whispered in Alice's skull. _If they don't rest soon, they'll die. or at least they'll not be strong enough to fight off the next attack._

"You're telling me." Alice whispered back. The hybrids looked to be taking the strain better than the rest of them. The humans were saturated in sweat, panting from the heat and dehydration, and walking with heavy footfalls. Even Noriko had removed her hood and mask to try and cool down. "Hetta is right. We need to stop." Alice pulled away from the back of the slowly moving line, stepping over a few rotting logs, and stood before Toni. This made the line stop and stare at her. "It's been a while since we were attacked."

"Alice and I can take the first watch." Eve offered, her tail swaying elegantly behind her as she moved to stand by her sister's side. "I'm not going to pretend that we wouldn't like to rest as much as you guys, but we're not going to collapse within the next hour, like you."

"She's right." Bonnie agreed wholeheartedly with the plan. In fact, she broke away from the line and slid her back down the bark of a tree to sit at the base. "Fuck me. I'm falling asleep on my feet. We have to stop."

"This is what they want." Noriko scanned the canopy as she spoke. "They've forced us to keep moving to the brink of exhaustion. Warning us down for the final attack."

"No offence? But I'm actually past caring what they 'want'. I'm fucking tired." Bonnie pulled her bandanna down over her eyes and groaned. "Wake me for the next shift."

"We can't just." Toni started to complain, but Hetta also crawled up against a tree and sagged against it. "This isn't a safe place to sleep. It's too exposed. Guys come _on_."

"You need to rest." Alice pushed Toni's shoulder. "My sister and I will watch over you."

"But-"

"Can you even aim that gun right now?" Eve challenged her with those eerie black eyes of hers. "What use are you, if you can't even shoot?"

"What Eve is _trying_ to say." Alice chuckled nervously, and guided their leader to also snuggle up to the large tree. "-is you need to rest up to keep your skills sharp."

"Alright." Toni relaxed as much as she could against the tree. Without prompting Noriko came to rest with them as well.

"I have an idea." Noriko held her bow ready in her hands so she could lift them at a moment's notice. "How good is your telepathy?"

"Excellent. With Alice." Eve answered without hesitation. "Why do you ask?"

"We are dying without water." Noriko's voice was even creaky, showing how long it had been. "I hate stopping here as much as you do Toni, but without water and rest we're dead anyway. Besides." Noriko nodded towards the hybrids. "I bet one of the 'exotic sisters' could go scout the area for something to drink and stay in contact with the other, right?"

"Yes we could." Eve nodded eagerly up at her honey skinned sister. "You stay with the group and I'll go looking for water."

"Oh, I don't think I like the idea of you going off into the jungle alone." Alice grabbed her sister's pale shoulders for fear she'd just run off without her.

"I'll go with her." Toni crawled back up from her position at the base of the tree. "That way I can have Eve's back, you can stay and watch over the others."

Alice frowned at the two women.

"But-"

"It's a decent plan. And we are desperate." Bonnie groaned again. "I can't feel my legs, or I'd go with you myself Eve."

"I understand." Eve smiling, feeling truly one of the group now. So many of them wishing they could come and protect her. She turned and lifted her hands to cup Alice's cheeks.

 _Listen to me Alice. I'm more suited to stealth than you. Toni is also a better shot than all of them combined, even if she's only half awake._

"But I still don't want you to go without me. I-I should go with you." Alice gripped her sister's arms tightly. A strange clicking noise came from her neck as she frowned down at her sister.

"No Alice." Eve shook her head and made her messy raven hair sway with the movement. "You're the strongest person here. If the others are attacked, they stand a better chance with you here guarding them."

"But-"

"Look at them Alice." Eve tore her hands back and threw one hand over to the slouched group. "They're on their last legs. I feel how worried you are about them. How devastated you'd feel if they died. After all we've been through together." Alice's big amber eyes were welling up. The thought of that log cabin on that remote island Emma had spoken about with Hetta came to mind.

Then the loss of Emma stung tenfold, all over again. Alice didn't want to lose anymore of her friends.

"Alright." Alice sniffled and ran a hand back through her long brown dreads. "Ok. Just stay in contact with me and shout the moment you hear or see anything dangerous. I'll come running."  
"No." Eve shook her head. "You'll protect our friends." She rolled her neck, cracking it three times and releasing a relieved hiss. "I can take care of myself. Keep up Toni."

"Don't worry. I will." The Hispanic sniper slapped her face a few times, getting some adrenaline going. She pulled her rifle up to look down the sight. "After you Eve."

"Be careful." Alice shouted after her sister. Eve lowered to all fours and ran full pelt up a tree. Within seconds she'd vanished into the canopy. Toni was stalking through the shadows cast by the trees, and kept looking up to track Eve's movements.

"I'll stay awake with you Alice." Noriko held her bow and arrow ready to be drawn. "The rest of you should get some sleep."

"Don't worry…I think Hetta already has…gone to…(snore)…"

Alice sat on a large overturned tree stump and yawned so wide her fangs felt the humid air. She licked her the rough of her mouth a few times as she watched her comrades. Bless her, despite a valiant effort, even Noriko was too tired to stay awake. Still holding her bow at the ready the shinobi was slouched back against the same tree as Hetta and Bonnie.

Thawp.

Alice heard it coming and rolled off the tree stump and hid behind it for cover. She stared over the edge of it and stared hard at the direction she thought 'it' came from. _Am I imagining things?_

 _"_ _Alice? Are you alright?"_ Alice felt her sister's concern in her mind and continued to scan the treeline opposite her for any sign of movement. _"Alice?"_

 _I think…I think I'm alright._ She thought hard at her sister. _I thought I heard something but I was wrong._

 _"_ _Alright Alice. I'll come back as soon as you want me to. Don't take the risk. If you're under attack, hide and call me back."_

 _I will. Don't worry._

Alice tapped her right fangs together, still staring at the tree line. Nothing had happened, and looking around her she couldn't see any arrow heads. _I'm more tired than I thought. I'm hearing things._

Still, better safe than sorry. She pulled her tusk daggers from her belt and stayed behind the wooden stump.

Thwap.

"Shit!" Alice barely swung her head out of the way of that one. A metal arrow head jutted out from the wooden stump, where her face had been seconds earlier. "GET UP NOW!" Alice barked over to her wards, and to their credit they followed the order very well. _EVE WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!_

 _"_ _Get the others to safety."_ Alice threw herself behind the same tree as her friends as another arrow flew through the small clearing. Noriko was already poised to peer around the tree, arrow drawn and trying to shake off sleep quickly enough to take aim. Bonnie and Hetta clearly had adrenaline thundering through their veins, as they were already panting and clenching their weapons with tight fists. _"I'm on my way. stay strong. Stay safe!"_

"Where is the bastard?" Bonnie held her shot gun, but couldn't find a target to aim at.

"I see three of them." Alice squinted, seeing red and orange silhouettes moving quickly between the threes. Two in the canopy, two running. "They're trying to surround us. Panic us. Come on. Follow me."

"Fuck." An arrow hit the wood near Bonnie's right leg. "Come out here you fucking COWARD!"

"Don't goad then Bonnie!?" Hetta shoved her friend to follow Alice. Alice pushed the other two ahead of her and Noriko, and tried her best to keep looking over her shoulder as she chased the pair into the cover of the trees again.

"Don't stop. No matter what stay together and keep running!" Alice jumped over a large rock and whipped her brown dreads round to look behind her.

Noriko pulled a piece of fabric free from her left wrist and exposed small and very shark shuriken.

"Duck Alice." She did so, and Noriko sailed a spinning shuriken behind them. And from the sound of the screech, she connected too.

Too bad that just made their pursuers 'pissed'. An energy blast hit a tree to the right of where they were running, and sent a large branch crashing into their path. "They're trying to split us up! Don't let them!" Noriko grabbed one of the smaller branches and threw her body over in a summersault to traverse the downed tree. The others ran around it, and the four were in formation again. "ALICE! DOKE!" the hybrid swerved to the left, and Noriko released another Shuriken.

Ping. Deflected. "chikushō." Noriko cussed.

All four red bodies were running after them. It made her blood boil. Running away like this…felt wrong. She hissed as she saw one of the 'pack' pull ahead and gain ground on them to the left. As soon as she realised there was also one to the right, she hissed.

Hetta and Bonnie might not be able to see how close this pauk-de was to reaching out for Alice and Noriko, but she could.

And she'd be damned if she was captured and killed without a fight.

"NORIKO! YOUR LEFT!"

"HAI!" Noriko flew three Shuriken to her side, and all three were deflected with a metallic twing. Dang they learnt quickly. "WE NEED A PLAN!" Noriko brought her wakizashi free, preparing for this to become a dogfight. "We're running in formation into THEIR trap!"

"YOU READY TO MAKE A STAND?" Alice caught Noriko's dark brown eyes, and saw a blood lust there. A fire. Defiance.

"I thought you'd NEVER ASK!" the other wakizashi came out, and Noriko turned her head to the left. She was straining her hearing to pick up the footfalls of her enemy…

"HETTA!"

"WHAT?!" the blonde animal behaviourist could be trusted to do as Alice told her. Bonnie however, was loyal to a deadly fault. If two of them were going to fall, the other two could at least survive.

 _"_ _Alice! Don't you dare turn to face them! I'm in your head remember!"_ Alice shook her sister's terrified scream from her head, determined now.

"DRAG BONNIE AWAY. DON'T TURN AROUND. DON'T STOP. STAY ALIVE."

"What the FUCK do you mean by THAT?!" Bonnie did the very thing she wasn't to do, and still running she saw something mad glinting in Alice's amber eyes. "DON'T YOU FUCKING-UF!" Hetta winded Bonnie with the force she used to spear the brunette up onto her shoulder. Being so tall and strong had previously been something Henriette had despised about herself. Being so masculine, just by staying healthy and practical. Right no however, the ability to throw her friend over her shoulder like a rag doll was something she thanked God for. "NOOOOOOO!" Bonnie screamed, pushing her hands on Bonnie's back and lifting her head to watch as her hybrid friend turned on her heels and stood to face the enemy.

"I'LL BUY YOU TIME!"

"KUTABARE!" Noriko threw herself wakizashi first towards the predator, who was no doubt preparing to do the very same to her. Alice saw they she did in fact connect, but not with her blades. Alice roared and swiped one of her tusk daggers into the path of the predator to her right. it made him stop, but not for long.

"RUN! JUST RUN!" Bonnie begged.

"DON'T YOU PAUKING DIE! FINE MY SIS-"

"NOOOO!" Bonnie screamed as 'something' tackled Alice to the ground. As Hetta ran full pelt, Bonnie barely saw her fierce friend roar and punch the air with a roar…before the trees around them obscured the scene. "GO BACK!"

"No." Hetta was crying as she ran, but didn't dare waste any of her energy by turning to look up at her unwilling charge, or the scene behind her. She knew the sight of her downed friends would end her resolve, and she knew that Alice had sacrificed herself and Noriko so they could get away. The fierce loyalty, and the mix of Predator behavioural instincts wouldn't allow her to run forever. Henrietta was surprised it had taken her this long, really. To turn and fight.

"HETTA I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN SO I CAN GO AND KICK THEIR STUPID ASSES I'M GOING TO-"

"Sohn von einem Weibchen!" Hetta cursed when she realised that the ground she was running on was about to run out. "Can you swim?"

"WHAT KIND OF A FUCKING QUESTION IS-" Bonnie stared in horror as she heard loud footfalls coming up behind them. Snarling as much as she could, Bonnie pulled a shotgun off her back and with one hand she pulled the trigger right in front of her. The pained growl she got as her reward was sweet. It made her grin with glee. It was like her buckshots had exploded like green paintballs against a hard surface. "Eat that you son of a-"

"GET READY TO HOLD YOUR BREATH BONNIE!"

"What are you-" Bonnie turned her head to look ahead of Hetta…and saw the cliff. "HETTA?! DON'T YOU DARE RUN US OFF THAT CLIFF!"

"IS THERE ANOTHER OPTION?!"

"Shit." Bonnie growled and the indignity of it. She then sniggered as the green blood got closer. The little wounds trickled to show a thigh, and it moved like the leg of a moving predator. "Anytime now Hetta."

"Nearly-"

"HETTA?!" a pair of eyes flashed before her, and Bonnie brought a fist back just in case. "DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS CAR AROUND HETTA!?"

"NOW!"

Hetta's watery blue eyes closed as she launched her aching body over the edge of the cliff. Despite the way her body tipped forward towards a monumental drop down a waterfall, a wave of relief washed over the blonde. She'd done it. Alice and Noriko's sacrifice hadn't been in vein. She'd saved herself and Bonnie. As long as they survived the drop and the swim…

Thwip.

"SON OF A BITCH!" still falling Hetta turned her head, and her heart leapt into her mouth. Bonnie's arms were pinned to her sides by a thick metal whip and her body was flailing back towards the cliff. The look of outrage on the bounty hunter's face was clear. She was being reeled in like a damn fish, whilst Hetta fell towards the water.

"NO!" Hetta screamed, reaching for her friend. But it was too late. She'd failed. Bonnie's feet scrambled on the cliff edge, and then she was gone with a scream. As much as Hetta wanted to cry with grief with the loss of so many of her friends, she had her own life to worry about now. turning back towards the ever gaining water, she prepared herself for a deep breath _just_ before she hit the water. Following Alaskan bears, she'd made jumps like this before. Nowhere near as bloody high, but still. She was used to the shock of the icy cold water. She made sure to keep her mouth shut and hold her breath as she was engulfed in the torrential river, and fought tooth and nail to reach the surface. Her body was forced with the current against several unkind rocks before she managed to find a river bank. Panting and her nerves shot to hell, Hetta climbed out of the river and collapsed to her side in the mud. She'd been carried so far down the river, she couldn't tell which part of the cliff her beloved potty mouthed friend had been dragged over. "…Bo…Bonnie…" she whimpered. "Mein Gott…they're dead. Emma…Alice and Noriko...Bonnie." She brought a trembling hand up to wipe her face and she cried so hard. Cold rattled through her bones, and despair made her incapable of caring. So many of her friends dead.

For no better reason that 'for sport'. Like the poachers she helped turn in on her expeditions. But this time she was the game. They didn't deserve this. This wasn't fair. Why would God _do_ this to-

Crackle crackle. Click click.

Hetta's heart jumped into her mouth and she slowly lowered her hands from her face. Utter horror, and a lack of energy left to fight her fate.

Couched before her was the devil himself. Dark rusty orange skin and black stripes. Black meshing, silver scale plating and a haunting mask with fangs from many creatures lining it. The thing that scared her the most was the pair of serrated blades extending from his wrist…and barely an inch away from her face.

This was it. He was going to kill her. Soaking wet, trembling from the cold, and totally alone. "Fick Dich." Hetta now shook with rage, and her bright blue eyes reflected her mood perfectly. He cocked his head to one side, making his block black dreads sway with the movement. The gesture was universal however. He didn't understand her. "I said." She leaned as close to the blades as she dared. "Fuck you."

That he understood. He snarled and retracted the blades. She didn't get to enjoy her small victory at pissing him off however. He brought his fist forward and knocked her out cold. Her body collided with the floor with a thud, and her body relaxed for the first time since she'd been forced into this merry band of miscreants. her beloved friends...


	11. Seven down

"Don't even think about it." Toni put her hand on Eve's shoulder and stopped her from launching herself forward. They both watched with anger and sadness in their dark eyes as Hetta was lifted from the ground and slung over the Predator's shoulder.

"He's taking her as a trophy." Eve shook with rage. Her teeth were bared and her sharp black nails dug into the bark of the tree they hid behind. "She might not be dead. We could-"

"We could get ourselves _killed_." Toni sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek. "There's a river between us and that bastardo. He'd see and hear us coming before we'd have a hope in getting her body back. Shoot us like fish in the river." Eve still looked like she was frothing at the mouth and seconds away from not giving a damn about her life anyway. "Are you sure you can't sense Alice anymore?"

That snapped her out of her trance. Eve whimpered and turned to hide behind the tree and hold her creamy shoulders. Her skeletal tail coiled around her body and she wept.

"…n…no. which means she's unconscious, or dead."

"Well we don't know that she isn't just out cold." Antonia lowered to a squat and put her hands over Eve's pale ones on her shoulders. She dug deep past her own reservations and tried to inspire hope in the young hybrid. "We should look for-"

"If Alice was knocked out, she's had the same fate as Hetta. And you know it." Bitterness lined the hybrid's voice. Her messy raven hair was wild from running through the trees. As soon as she'd heard her sister's strife and plan in her mind, the pair had abandoned the stream they found to come to their aid. But when Eve had lost her connection with Alice, she lost her mind. She couldn't navigate her way back to their friends without her telepathic link with Alice. Eve ran desperately calling out for her sister, and no one answered. When they finally _did_ find one of their friends…it was to watch her body being carried off like a damn prize. If Hetta was alive…it was not for long. The Predator walked into the forest on the far line of the river, and disappeared with a crackle.

"Damn it. Did you study the predators?"

"Why do you ask that?" Eve sniffled and wiped tears from her face with the back of her hand. "You _know_ I'm half human half Xenomorph, right?"

"I know." Toni sighed, missing Emma and Hetta for moments just like this. "I just wondered if there was any chance that they'd be taking the others to a central location before killing them. A location we could find and ambush, or something."

"They hunt." Eve snarled. "They kill. They skin their prey, hang their bodies as a point of pride and bleed them out. Then they take their fucking spine and skull as a prize to ordain their fucking walls and ships. Oh, and of course they always win. It's why _mother dearest_ was desperate to make me and Alice. To fight back." Her voice wobbled and she held her head, screwing her black eyes shut. "Oh Alice…this is all my fault."

"No sweetie it isn't." Toni lowered her rifle and pulled Eve into chest for a hug.

"It is!" she sobbed. "I suggested we split up. I should have stayed with her. I should have-"

"Four of them together didn't stand a chance. How would five or 6 have made a damn difference?" The sniper sighed and stroked Eve's hair, trying to sooth her. "It's just me and you now chica. Just me and you."

Eve's sniffling stopped and she slowly raised her head. She peered out over Toni's arm and exhaled a choppy breath.

 _"_ _Hello Eve."_

"…Toni…" she whispered, her ears wringing and her head buzzing.

"Yes chica?"

"…w-we're not alone."

Toni's whole body tensed. Those four words fizzed down her spine and sparked through her nerves. She darted her brown eyes down to the rifle by her feet, and licked her bottom lip nervously.

"…where?" she whispered to Eve's head. Toni pretended to stroke Eve's arms, picking off flakes of dirt.

"Straight…ahead…in the shadows…" Toni's heart was hammering in her chest. There was no way in hell she was losing Eve. Not after losing everyone else. She'd die first. "…he's…so loud…so…strong…h-help-can't-stop him-he-so loud." Eve was hyperventilating as Toni 'groomed' her way down to Eve's feet. The hybrid's breathing was getting choppier and chopper, and her tail twitched with fear.

 _"_ _Eve."_

"…nnno…n-noo…c-calling m-my name." Eve whimpered, clinging to Toni with one hand, and holding her head with the other.

"Now." Toni grabbed her riffle and released a lazy shot towards the bushes opposite them. However, her aim wasn't to plant a perfect shot, but get some distance between them and…whatever had Eve whimpering like a baby. That freaked her out more than anything. "GO NOW!" Toni ran beside Eve, who was on all fours, and she pulled a pistol from her belt. Not many rounds left in it, but she'd be damned if she let that _thing_ get Eve. Normally Eve was more than capable of out running her, but the hybrid stumbled over her own hands and feet, whimpering and swaying.

"In my head! He's in my head!"

"Shit." Toni aimed her pistol behind her and couldn't see anything to shoot. "He's telepathic? Like you?"

"No-not like me." Eve fell to her side and screamed. "He's stronger!" her skeletal tail flailed around her and she yowled in pain. "Can't, can't fight him off. he's clawing his way into my mind!" her body wracked with pain, trembling on the floor.

"You fight him Eve!" Toni barked down at her friend. "You keep him out of your mind." She pulled her rifle up and knelt defensively next to her thrashing friend. "Because he isn't getting your body."

 _"_ _Eeeeeeeeve."_

"NO!" Eve screeched, thrashing her head in her hands back and forth. "You will NOT possess me!"

"That's the ticket chica. You tell that asshole." It was hard to spot the enemy over the tortured wails of her charge, and with a brain that was sleep, food and water deprived. Damn it though, Toni was determined that if this was her last stand, she was taking that fucker with her. "Come on. Where are you."

"THERE!" Eve screamed and pointed to their left. Toni moved without hesitation and fired a shot. "MISSED!" Toni didn't dare look down at he girl by her feet. No doubt she looked possessed, the way she hissed at the air, clawed at the ground and rolled her black eyes in pain. There were a few times Toni thought the girl's tail was going to slap her across the face it was swinging around so damn much.

"You show me where to shoot Eve. I'll get that bastard."

 _"_ _Clever. You can sense where I am."_

"STOP TALKING!" Eve screamed and scrambled on the floor to get on all fours. Her nose was bleeding, but she glared for all she was worth. "THERE!"

Toni turned and trusted her telepathic spotter. She fired, and a roar signalled that she'd hit her mark.

"Take that asshole." Toni loaded her next bullet. "Is he down Eve?" Toni felt her fingers twitching against the trigger and she stared down her sight. Any movement, and she'd squeeze hot lead into that bastard.

"No no no no no no no not him."

"What do you mean? What's not him? I thought I hit him." Eve was whimpering and laid on her back, staring up with tears slugging down her face. She was trembling and holding herself. "Shit. Don't you give up on me Eve. Don't you do it." Toni knew what a crumbling resolve looked like… "Eve!"

 _"_ _She didn't hit me, did she Eve?"_

"no…she didn't…hit you…" Toni tore her eye away from the sight and looked down at Eve. The way she was staring…transfixed… "…can't…fight…any…more...hurts…hurts too much…"

"Eve?" Toni reached down to touch Eve's clammy cheek. Her fingers didn't even connect. All the wind left her body as something hard collided with her gut, and with such a force, it lifted her body off the ground. She landed in a gasping heap, separated from her rifle, a goof two feet away from Eve. Blinking the world back into view Toni clawed at the ground to get to her feet. "Eve!" Toni tried to run back to her, but a monster jumped down from the treetops and landed on top of her. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Toni screamed. Whatever it was, it wasn't holy. At first she thought she was looking at an alien; a Xenomorph. But this fucker was much bigger, and humanoid. It turned to look at her, and she thought her heart was going to break through her ribs at the rate it hammered against her chest. As black as a nightmare. As large as a predator, and as terrifying as it got. On all fours it turned to look at her with one red and one green eye. Long black dreadlocks swung around his head as he turned to glare at Toni, and his mandibles spread wide. The monster didn't wear any armour. Just brown shorts.

"…run…" Toni dropped her eyes down to the floor, seeing Eve laid placidly beneath the beast. "…T…Toni…run."

"I'm not leaving you." She raised her fists. "Come on. I might not have my gun, but I still know how to bring the pain. Los hijo de puta."

 **"** **She is mine."** In Queen's fucking English it spoke with a deep gravelly voice and a smirk across his mandibles. The fact it was capable of communicating with them, and _still_ hunted her friends down, pissed her off more than if he'd been incapable of talking.

"Over my dead body." This was it. her last stand. With a battle cry she-

Again she was knocked on her ass. Her back collided with a tree and she coughed desperately to catch her breath. She'd assumed it was the monster before her that knocked her down last time, but this time she'd been watching him.

"Shit." That meant that-

Antonia ducked just in time to avoid a silver staff from crushing her face into the bark behind her. She groaned from her bruised ribs and staggered around the tree, trying to see her assailant _and_ keep tall dark and sinister in her sights. Said monster had taken her distraction to scoop a totally dazed Eve into his arms like a bride. Somehow, the monster was even scarier when he stood upright like the other predators. Toni tried to run towards Eve, but she was knocked to the ground with a thick staff swiping a welt across her back. "Fuck. Eve!" Toni wheezed and clawed over to her friend.

She was too late.

The monster leapt up like he was bloody Spiderman and vanished into the treetops. "EVE!"

She'd failed. Toni couldn't even see where Eve had gone… "She…was mine to protect…"

Crackle crackle.

Toni glared for all she was worth, and spat the blood from her mouth to the floor. She turned, and finally looked upon her opponent. He dull silver metal armour. It was designed to be sharp looking, with a chevron pattern to the boots, thigh guards, torso and shoulder guards. His gauntlets were sharp towards the finger tips, and what looked like a small plasma gun sat on his shoulder. He held an extended silver combi stick in one hand, and extended duel wrist blades on the other.

 _So he's armed to the teeth, and I'm totally unarmed. What a fucking gentleman._

"You bastardo." Toni unzipped her jacket and shrugged it off. she craned her neck to work out the kinks, cracking it, and then she rolled her shoulders. "If you think I'm going down easy because you've separated me from my gun." She nodded towards the rifle at his armoured feet. "You have another thing coming. In fact." She smirked, her own blood on her lips. "I think I like the look of _your_ weapons. I'll just take one of yours."

He clattered and his shoulders bounced. Obviously he found her amusing. "You just killed my friend. The last friend I had. I now have nothing to lose. So if this is my final hurrah? You're going down with me, pendejo."

Clunk.

He dropped the staff. "…huh?"

Fwip.

He withdrew his duel blades.

Vvt.

The plasma gun lowered to his shoulder and turned off.

Thud, thud, thud. Toni watched, half mesmerised, half confused as hell as the creature before her disarmed and removed his armour. Apparently, he intended to be as unarmed as she was. He kept discarding his attire until he was down to a black body mesh and a dark green wrap around skirt. She could now see that his skin was the colour of clay, with cream skin over his stomach and neck. His dreadlocks were mahogany in colour and long, with golden bolts here and there. She clocked a thin slice on the outside of his left hip, showing her bullet earlier had in fact grazed _him._

 _At least I hit the fucker._

Pop. Hiss. Thud.

As his mask hit the jungle floor, Toni gulped. It occurred to her that the monster she saw carting off Eve clearly belonged to the same species as this predator. The mandibles were a dead giveaway, as well as the arrogance of his eyes. Although this predator had light brown eyes. "Well I like my odds better now. But could you put the mask back on? I don't what _this_." She drew a circle with her hand, indicating his face. "To be the last thing I see. Thanks." He just chuckled at her again, his shoulders bouncing. It was like she was channeling Bonnie. That was definitely something she'd say…with a lot more swearing.

Her loss prickled at her eyes, and she scowled once more. The strangeness of this creature that murdered her friends wasn't enough to put aside the danger to her life, or her need for revenge. "Come on. Let's go."

Apparently he felt the same way. The predator roared and charged forward.

 _Larger opponent. Use his weight to throw him. Avoid his fists, hit low. Foul if I have to. I just need to blind side him and grab a weapon. Or a stone to beat his fucking skull in. that'll do._

He swung a fist round for her face. Toni ignored her extreme fatigue and forced herself to duck below it. She jabbed forward getting a few punches on his bloody hard abdomen, and regretted it. Not only did he not even flinch, she was within arm's reach. He brought both fists down on her shoulder and sent her screaming to her knees. Damn that hurt. She seethed, running on the fumes of her adrenaline and rage alone. She leaned forward and bit his thigh hard, even chewing a few times before he threw himself away from her.

From the sound he realised, that had hurt. Huh, he's fleshy there. He staggered back and held his inner thigh, snarling at her in shock. Toni snickered and scrambled back to get to her feet. She wiped her hand over her mouth, and caught a flash of green on her forearm, before she had to focus on her enemy. Her bite was superficial a wound at best, but the point was made. Toni was not to be underestimated. She _would_ fight dirty if her life depended on it. which of course...it did..."Come on you pussy. Next time I'll aim a little higher, and to the center." She blew him a bloody kiss, her chin smeared with his green blood. He seemed to just cackle, and walked on his injured leg like it was nothing.

 _Ok. need to stay out of arm's reach. Need a weapon. He's keeping me away from his 'weapon's cache'. Can't risk making a run for it. my rifle is there too._

She scanned her tired brown eyes around her to see what the forest had to offer. Not much, but she spied a rock to her right. _if I can get my hands on that rock, and then avoid his fists long enough, I could try to bash his head in._

She didn't have much time to execute her plan. He was charging for her before she could blink. So she dropped and rolled out of his reach and pulled the rock from the ground with numb fingers. she swung around as he came up behind her and watched the stone come so very close to it's target.

Alas, she just wasn't fast enough. He caught her wrist and squeezed it so tight, she couldn't hold on to it. "MOTHER FUCKER." _that hurts._ She put her other hand on the wrist that held hers, and used his own body as a weight support to swing her leg up and book him right across the face. Slightly dazed by her unexpected flexibility, he released her burning wrist, and staggered back. Toni screamed, launching forward to capitalise. Before she could mount him to rain her fists down on his face, he grabbed her tank top and pulled her down to her back. The thud on the floor reverberated through the deep bruising of her back and ribs, making her gasp for air and spatter more of her own blood onto her lips. She thrashed for freedom, but by the time she got over being winded…it was too late. He had both her hands pinned above her head and straddled her waist. She screamed and thrashed as much as she could, but then the futility of her situation dawned on her, and she stopped. With all the hate she could muster through her busted lip and throbbing body she seethed up at him. "Well? Don't toy with me. Kill me or get off so I can kill you." he chuckled, those mandibles clicking together with glee as he leaned over her. His free hand reached for her face, and she closed her eyes. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of watching her fight off death.

After all, he'd won. She had nothing to live for anymore. All her friends were dead…and now she was going to join them.


	12. Lost and found

Bonnie groaned and rubbed her face. _Did I drink something nasty last night? My fucking head…owie…_ when she opened her blue eyes she immediately wondered if she could be hung over and still drunk at the same time. _Where the hell am I?_ She hissed and held her middle in pain.

"What the fuck?" She sat up and lifted her dirty tank top up to inspect the source of her winding pain. "Shit…" deep purple bruising looped several times around her ribs and waist in thin lines. She had some slices here and there within the purple bands. She hissed again as she traced her fingers over the bruises, and remembered how she got them. "That fucker tied me up like a damn hog." Bonnie swore several more times as she lowered her top and looked around.

the first thing she noticed was the absence of her shot guns. _drat, I've been disarmed._ She was on a metal slab and found she was surrounded with a white curtain. The sound of beeping to her left brought her face round to see what she _thought_ was a heart monitor. But nothing was attached to her, and the red lettering that ran vertically down the side of the screen was in no language she'd ever seen.

Fwip.

The curtain opened and she raised a fist, ready to renew the good fight…when she realised who she was looking at. "…Emma?"

"Oh thank goodness. I thought you'd never wake up."

"Emma!" Bonnie scrambled off the metal slap, wobbling and dizzy as hell, but eager to prove that her friend wasn't a ghost. As her arms pulled the timid doctor in for a Texan bear hug, they both started to weep. "You bitch." Bonnie laughed through her tears, still clinging to her friend. "I thought you were dead. Don't you ever run off again you slippery little shit head."

"I'm ok." Emma pushed Bonnie back, and beamed a smile at her. "Now sit back on the medical bed…Or a predator will come and put you back in place."

"Huh?" Bonnie snapped her head back and forth, making her matted brown hair sway with the movement. "They're in the hospital? How did we get here? How did you escape? How!"

"Hold on. On the bed first." Emma held Bonnie's grimy biceps and pushed her to sit on the bed again. She then scanned her worried hazel eyes over the monitoring screen, and apparently she was reassured with what she saw. "I know you have a lot of questions. Trust me…I did too."

"What are you wearing?"

This situation was bizarre enough, without Emma looking like some sort of Caribbean poster girl.

"Ah…a gift…apparently." She sighed and waved her hands down her body. A black leather belt sat in the slight curve of her waist and blue chiffon fell as a long skirt to her ankles. It was evident that she was wearing a wraparound skirt as her left leg was exposed when she moved. A similar piece of blue chiffon stretched over her dainty breasts, knotted around a black ring in the middle of her cleavage, and then tied around her neck. Three raw claw marks glared angrily up from her right shoulder and across her chest at an angle, stopping just after her collar bone. She had some sort of clear gel over them, and didn't appear to be in any pain. "I assume it's what their women wear."

"Emma, I'm really glad to see you. really. But I'm about to smack you if you don't tell me what the fuck is going on." Emma chuckled, despite the shit crazy look on Bonnie's face, showing she meant every word.

"I'm going to. Now you're all awake."

"All?" Emma shoved her mousy brown locks behind her ears and stepped away from Bonnie. As she did, she pulled the white curtain back on it's rail to reveal the rest of the room.

Bonnie's lips pursed together and she felt the tears run down her cheeks.

"Why did you sleep longer than me, and I took a worse beating than you chica?" Toni wheezed as she laughed. A black eye, a busted lip, a sling holding her right arm to her chest, and bandages around her middle. Just like Bonnie, the Hispanic woman was still dirty from the 'games planet'.

"Because you snipers where made to take more of a beating. Besides, the bastard that caught me cheated." Bonnie ignored her tears, seeing Hetta and Noriko were also there. Equally as banged up as she was, and staring at her like _she_ was a ghost. None more so than Hetta. "He stabbed me in the neck with something and I went out like a light." Bonnie rubbed her neck, and Emma instinctively pushed her hand out of the way to fuss over her.

"Yes there's an injection site here. Clean, no tearing. No evidence of infection."

"Don't sound so damn impressed there." Bonnie took one of Emma's wrists and looked around her friends. "Damn I thought I'd never see your ugly mugs again."

"I saw you being captured as I fell." Hetta was sobbing. Her legs hung over the side of her bed, on the left of Bonnie's, and she chuckled at her. "I thought you were dead. I thought you all where." Bonnie saw that it wasn't just her and Toni who had been through the ringer. Hetta had a broken nose and a strap holding it back in place, bruising across her cheeks, and a cut eyebrow. Her muscular arms were covered in suspiciously hand like marks…she'd been either gripped very tightly…or forcibly restrained.

"What's going on here?" Noriko was strapped to her metal slab with thick leather straps across her legs, abdomen and chest. She turned her head to look at Toni at her left. Her black shinobi robes were so torn apart, you could hardly recognise what they used to be. So much so that she now wore a pair of brown leather shorts to cover her 'modesty'. Her breasts, and just about every other limb she had was bound, including her fingers and her left eye. The remaining brown eye was heavily blood shot, and the skin around it was a dark purple colour too.

She made Toni's injuries look like a scraped knee. "Bonnie I hear you're back with us? Good. I was about to kick the shit out of Emma."

"What the restrained member of our merry band _meant_ to say, was that Emma said she wanted to wait until you woke up to tell us _exactly_ why we're now in the hands of the enemy. Oh, and alive." Toni pushed herself to sit up against the wall and held her ribs in pain.

Looking at her friends, Bonnie realised that she'd gotten off rather easily. The metallic whip had cut into her and squeezed her a bit, sure. But one thought occurred to her.

 _At least I still look pretty_. She sniggered, keeping that thought to herself…

"Yes." Emma held her elbows and moved to stand between them all. Bonnie and Hetta to her left, Toni and Noriko to her right. "I'm not really sure how to start."

"How about your magical escape and why you look like a damn Barbie doll." Noriko hissed from her prone position. "And untie me, while you're at it."

"She can't do that, and you know that." Toni chided down at the mummy.

"Why _is_ the ninja tied down?"

"Why do you think?" Toni sniggered, finding humour in their doomed situation. She was still just grateful that her friends were alive. Even if that was only a temporary respite. "Because she kept trying to escape. Four predators had to hold her down, strap her in, and sedate her ass. Putting aside that I'm out of my mind with _concern_ for why we've been taken _alive_ , then you have to admit it was funny to watch."

"I have NEVER been tied up in my life!" Noriko hissed, tensing her body against her restraints. "Still woozy from that last shot, or I'd be out of these damn bindings. Chikushō."

"If the strap over her chest was any closer to her head, I'd bet money that she'd be trying to chew through it right now." Hetta added.

"Please stop struggling. You have so much internal bleeding that I'm surprised you're not screaming in agony." Emma hurried over to her, making her blue skirt flutter behind her.

"Either start spilling your guts sweetheart, or get me out of these DAMN RESTRAINTS!"

"You know I can't-"

"Then squeal. Now." Noriko thrashed once more, for good measure, and glared up with her remaining brown eye at the woman.

"Ok ok." Emma checked Noriko's monitoring screen once more, and then stood at the end of her bed instead. "Please don't shoot the messenger. This…has been done to me too."

"What has?" Bonnie winced as she gingerly brought her legs round to hang from the other side of the bed. she wanted to give her long lost friend her undivided attention. "Do you know why we're here?"

"First things first. How I came to be here." Emma combed her fingers back through her long mousy brown hair nervously and chewed her lips. "Ok. rip of the band aid. Here goes."

* * *

 _Flash back._

"I can't fight. I'm a geek. I'll j-just get them k-killed. I-I can't d-do that to th-them. I c-can't." Emma curled up on her side and sobbed. Walking away from her friends had been the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. But what other choice did she have? They were far better off without the 'weak link' holding them back. slowing them down. _I can't even defend myself. how am I supposed to have their backs, or expect them to have mine? I just can't do this anymore. I'm going to die here._ Emma sobbed so hard into her eyes, she didn't notice the pair of metal boots coming to a stop before her face…until their owners spoke.

"You can't fight?"

Her heart stopped, and her whole body tensed, a coil twisting in her stomach. Then she trembled all over, as she lifted her head to stare with wide eyes at the source of the voice. She pushed up with her hands on the rock slab, and blinked at him.

It was a predator. He stared down at her with his head to one side, regarding her pathetic form at his feet. All the files Emma had read on their RV seemed to fly in front of her eyes. All the skinned bodies, eviscerated pulps found at their suspected hunting sites…skulls missing…

She was staring up with her mouth open and her hazel eyes wide at her personal grim reaper. Her very own walking breathing nightmare. And he was staring right back at her. Emma, a woman who held multiple degrees and one of the most analytical minds state side, felt her mind switch off and her inner chimp claw up to the surface.

Emma was after all, face to face with natural predator.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She scrambled off the rock and bolted as fast as her little feet would take her through the trees. Her chest ached with her laboured panting and she could hear her heart beat in her head. Emma had never run so fast in her life, and saw her best attempt of escaping crumble all around her as she ran through a set of bushes.

The good doctor skidded to a stop and forgot how to breathe. Adrenaline thundered through her veins as she looked upon 3 monsters.

 _What? The Predator wasn't enough? You three had to come and take a bite out of me too?!_

They stood on two legs like her. They had two arms like her, and two eyes.

But they were even taller than the predator from before, had elongated claws for slicing flesh, and a hide that looked to be made from something between wood and bone. They noticed her immediately, and screeched with excitement. Emma staggered backwards, only to see one of the monsters leap after her.

Then she turned and bolted _back_ the other way. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

To her horror, the Predator grabbed her bicep and yanked her to one side. He seemed to stare down at her, gauging her reaction to him. Emma just blinked up at her captor, and screamed again at the top of her lungs. So much so, that he blanched and pressed one hand over where she assumed one odd his ears was. The predator shook his head at her, and then snapped his silver mask up to stare over her shoulder.

"What the-"

The three creatures stalked through the bushes at the base of the trees, and had them surrounded. The predator released her and held his staff before him in both hands, covering his body. He even turned his back to Emma. Apparently the monsters were more of a threat than she was. Go figure. She turned on her feet and saw that one of the creatures was facing her, and getting ever closer. _So much for running away!_

Right then, she wished she hadn't left her borrowed machete behind. The low growling of the creatures seemed to indicate that they were in position and gearing up to pounce on them. Emma was out of her mind with fear, and snapped her head around her, keeping her back to the predator.

 _This is it! I'm going to die!_

The beast staring at her was the first to move. Emma screamed and covered her face, waiting for the unbelievable pain of being eaten alive, when she was pushed to the ground with a thud. Where she found the strength to look up and see what had happened she'd never know. But as she peered her watery hazel eyes up from her curled position on the ground, she saw that she was laid between the Yautja's feet, and he had jammed the tip of his spear, and a good foot of the shaft, through the eye of the creature. It fell backwards, writhing and dying quickly. Emma watched from the ground as the predator flexed his wrists, extending very nasty looking blades. They dipped, curved and hooked like they were designed to penetrate flesh like water, and to maximum damage as they were withdrawn. She saw him turning his head from side to side, so she did the same.

The other two creatures had taken to the left and right of her 'protector', and looked like they planned to pounce at the same time.

Emma screamed when they did just that, and she watched with horror as he only managed to deflect one of them.

The second latched onto his back and sliced it's claws down his back. his shoulder guard took most of the damage, but luminous green blood started weeping from deep cuts in his lower back. The predator roared, an unholy sound, pulling a cutting disc from his belt and bringing it round to slit the creature's throat. Alas, all he managed to do was make it back off, and regroup. The creature he'd manage to deflect only had a scathing cut across its carapace. The monsters were hissing and circling the injured predator, getting ready for another round.

Emma looked up at the predator, stood over her protectively, and swallowed as much of her impending dread as she could. Shaking like a leaf she crawled in front of him and stood, getting his immediate attention.

"G-G-Give m-me a w-weapon." She blurted out and looked nervously from the circling creatures, to the pained predator. "I-I-I'll watch your b-back if you watch m-mine." The hunter growled at her deep in his chest, then looked to the circulating harbingers of death...and handed her the cutting disk. He extended his wrist blades again, making sure he was still armed. Emma fumbled with it nervously, whimpering as she put her slender fingers into the ring holes to grip at the cold disc.

He turned to take his position and turned his head from side to side, watching the enemy instead of her. She shuffled on her feet, getting as close to him as she dared, and also facing outwards.

The beasts bound forward once more, both aiming again for the predator, the only one they considered a threat. Emma panted heavily, on the very edge of just fainting from the overload of fear and adrenaline. She screamed as one came near her and squeezed the grip holes. Blades started whizzing and spinning around the weapon, and she barely had time to duck it's snapping jaws, howled with pain as it clawed across her right shoulder and collar bone, and brought the spinning blades against it's lower belly.

Being nerdy did sometimes help. The creature clearly had a tough exoskeleton. She did notice however that there were fleshy areas, where the eyes were, the joins, navel and groin.

The creature screeched with pain and scampered off to one side. Behind her the predator managed to beat his 'opponent' down to the floor and kick in it's carapace, and slice across the exposed flesh of it's neck. the proud warrior turned, anticipating the need to take down the last of the creatures, only to see Emma sat on it.

She was sobbing her little heart out, scared out of her mind, bringing the cutting disc down on the creatures chest and neck over and over. It was long dead, but she just kept crying and hacking at it.

Slowly the predator approached her and grabbed her wrist, halting her attack. Emma didn't stop trying to bring the disc down on the carcass until she tugged on his hold a few times. It suddenly occurred to her that she was being restrained, and her fear kicked up another gear. If that was even possible. She looked up at the Predator and dropped the cutting disc. She then held her face with her free hand and just waited for him to end her. That is what she was here for, right? For the predators to hunt and kill.

Emma didn't have any fight left in her. She just sat on the broken corpse of the alien creature and sobbed into her left hand, the right still being held by the predator. She didn't resist when he used his grip to drag her off the beast, but didn't stand. She just collapsed to her knees at his feet and hung her head forward. "J-J-Just d-d-do it. I-I-I." She was so out of her mind with terror she couldn't even speak. The urge to vomit was so great, she could taste it on her tongue. When he released her hand she just pressed her palms into the muddy ground and let her tears fall onto the backs of her hands.

"You have proven yourself. Our laws are clear."

"What?" she looked up through messy brown hair, her face a mess from crying her tears dribbling off her chin. "I-I-d-don't un-d-d-derstand. I-"

"You fought alongside me. An equal. You have passed my trial." He turned and looked at her kill. "All you must do now is take a trophy, and swear yourself to me."

"What?" she knelt up and looked into the fathomless red lenses of his mask. "You...you're _not_ going to kill me?"

"Not if you swear yourself to me." He nodded his head towards the corpse. "And take a trophy from the river ghost. Those are my terms."

She stared at him for quite some time before crawling over to the dead monster. Emma wiped her face on the back of her sleeve and held her hands up.

"What...should I take?"

"The skull." He walked over to her and knelt by its head. "Use this." he handed her a whopping hunting knife, and she had to use both hands just lift it. "Cut here." He pointed to it's throat. Emma pressed two fingers to the neck, feeling and probing the flesh. "It _is_ dead."

"I know." She sniffled and nodded when her probing fingers found their mark. "I'm looking for the best place to decapitate it." she exhaled choppily. "I don't want to dull the blade on the vertebra, or hack for ages through cartilage."

"You are medically trained?" he watched as her trembling fingers slid the blade into position, and she started slicing through flesh.

"You speak English." Emma sniffled, not daring to look at him. she could feel his presence behind her, and she still didn't know if he was just messing with her or telling the truth. Should she believe him? The thought that he could have spoken to her and her friends at any time and tell them why the hell they were taken, and not do so, made her angrier than thinking them simple beasts.

Perhaps she should try and make a run for it? The hunting knife looked nasty enough to go through his thigh. That would slow him down…

"I speak a few Ooman tongues." He spoke with such an even gravelly voice, with the odd metallic clicking every now and then. "I'm quite experienced in hunting your kind." Emma tensed, but didn't stop her work. _Perhaps I shouldn't push my luck…_

The head came away from the spinal cord, and she tried not to flinch _too_ much when he took the blade back. She then heaved the skull off and then swallowed the bile that rose to her throat. "You did not answer my question." Emma steadied her breathing and whimpered as she wiped the thick blood down the sides of her combat trousers. Anything to get it off her hands. "Well?"

"I am a doctor." She barely whispered.

"How do you hunt your pray?" he rose to his feet and used the same blade to make child's play of retrieving the other two skulls.

"I don't." she quickly heaved the skull up and held it to her chest, like it was her life line. That was his 'deal' after all. Take a trophy and swear herself to him... he scoffed, like he didn't believe her. "I was brought here with m-my friends. Could we-"

"They are none of my concern." that was resounding and final. The green predator pulled a net sack from his belt and shoved his trophies into it like they weighed nothing. "I have witnessed _your_ honour, not theirs. I will have to stand witness before my elders and take you into my custody. You will be bound to me." He walked right up to her, and she stumbled back from him. "If this is not acceptable to you, I can leave you here."

"But my friends-"

"If they are worthy they will prove themselves. This is your _only_ chance." He attached the trophy bag to his belt and started pressing red symbols on his wrist bracer. "I have spent the maximum amount of leisure time as I am allowed here. I am also injured, and I need to register your status immediately. What is your decision?"

Her lips trembled and she stared up helplessly at her 'saviour'.

Staring up into the claw marks of his silver mask, feeling her mortality in her hands with the trophy she held, Emma gulped and nodded. "I...I'll go with you."

"That is the right choice." He pressed a final command on his bracer and looked up into the sky. She heard no engines, no disturbance in the air, but above her the air shimmered and revealed a large ship. "Welcome to Clan A'nok."

 _End flash back._

* * *

"Wow. So…you went like, nuclear." Bonnie nodded, impressed. She genuinely hadn't thought the doc had it in her. Emma didn't know it, but she'd gone up in even Noriko's estimations.

"I would say I was lucky…but you haven't heard the worse part yet." Emma gulped and pulled a metal stool over from the wall. She placed it own and took a seat, almost elegantly with her skirt flowing over her lithe legs.

"Well? What's that?" Hetta was on the same tender hooks as the rest of them.

"Why we were chosen. Why we were put on that planet. And why we're here."


	13. The Big reveal

_Last chapter…_

"Wow. So…you went like, nuclear." Bonnie nodded, impressed. She genuinely hadn't thought the doc had it in her. Emma didn't know it, but she'd gone up in even Noriko's estimations.

"I would say I was lucky…but you haven't heard the worse part yet." Emma gulped and pulled a metal stool over from the wall. She placed it down and took a seat, almost elegantly with her skirt flowing over her lithe legs.

"Well? What's that?" Hetta was on the same tender hooks as the rest of them.

"Why we were chosen. Why we were put on that planet. And why we're here."

 _This chapter…_

* * *

"You know?!" Hetta pushed her hands on the metal slab to get to her feet, put Emma put her hands up in a panic.

"Don't!" She yelped with such urgency, everyone in the room froze. "Don't get off that table! None of you." she waved her hands around frantically.

"Ok ok, I won't." Hetta pushed herself comfortably back onto the bed, if anything just to reassure the highly strung doctor. "But why is it such a big deal?"

"If you get off the metal slabs, an alert will be sent." Emma pointed to the door behind her. And _they_ will come and check on you."

"They meaning predators?" Hetta pushed herself back another inch into the bed. Emma nodded and lowered her hands to rest together on her lap.

"Ok. Well, you've got to understand that this was, and still is, a big shock to me. But I've had four days for this to sink in. in fact, the reason I was allowed to come and see you at all is because Vator wants me to be the one to fill you in on our new 'situation'."

"Vator?" Toni sneered. "Who's that, and why are you on first name terms with them?"

"Vator is my…" her mouth hung open, then she licked her lips and thought hard how to answer that question. "He's the predator that…I just told you about. The one I'm 'bound' to…"

"We'll see about that." Bonnie sneered. "Go on. What did this vaytor say you could tell us about our _situation_?" the bounty hunter was already feeling like they'd just swapped one games reserve for another. But at least in the jungle the rules were obvious. Kill or be killed. Whatever Emma was about to tell her, she felt that the goal posts were not just about to be moved, their shape would change, and the point scoring system become unintelligible.

"Ok." Emma steeled herself, and looked to Bonnie first. "Well, first off, have you ever wondered why all the intel we had about Predators were all about male ones?"

"Not really." Bonnie narrowed her eyes at the timid woman. she was hiding something…but she'd play along for now. "Why?"

"Well they _do_ have women." Emma gulped, and chose her words carefully. "But…many of them died."

"How?" Toni scratched the back of her head, and grimaced at both the pain this caused her, and how damn greasy her ebony locks were. The urge for a shower rose to the surface of her mind briefly, before she squashed it in favour of more important issues. Like the huge mandible wearing elephant in the room.

"Well, the predators hunt on many words, all over the galaxy." Emma picked at her own nails, and looked really nervous. "O-on one such planet they colonised and hunted on, it had a very exotic virus like organism there already. Native to the planet. Apparently it had evolved to feed on the female version of a kind of rodent, or something, but it infected the first settlers who took it back to their mothership."

"Heh heh." Bonnie sniggered, and turned to look at Hetta. "Predators got fucking swine flu."

"It was far deadlier than that." Emma pressed, not seeing the humour that now teetered in the eyes of her comrades. "It crossed the species barrier and had such a long incubation period, by the time they realised what had happened, it was too late."

"Sounds like Karma to me." Hetta grumbled.

"You won't think that by the time I'm done." Emma tangled her hands in her hair, really wishing she didn't have to be the bearer of bad news like this…but she just had to get on with it.

"I'm not seeing how this is relevant to us." Toni shrugged her one good shoulder. "How does some super virus have anything to do with us being here?"

"The Virus didn't affect the men. They could carry the virus, and it didn't cause an infection. It used them as vectors, sorry, carriers to infect the female predators. The women died rapidly from massive bleeding and organ failure. By the time they made a vaccine to this virus their female population had been decimated. Only 30% of their females remained."

"Wow…fuck that's harsh." Bonnie still didn't see the point…but she did feel sorry for them. She was after all a woman, and that didn't sound like a pleasant way to go.

"I still say it's Karma." Hetta sneered. Despite how unusually cold that was of her, Toni and Noriko at least saw her point. After everything they'd been through, there wasn't much more than a collective tea spoon of sympathy left in the women.

Emma's hazel eyes were watering and she pressed her hands against her middle. There was no avoiding it. She'd finally come to the punch line…but no one would find it funny.

"Of that 30% a significant number of them are too young to…breed. The elderly didn't survive." She gulped. "Apparently their male to female ratio now stands at 50…to 1."

"Fuck." Toni hissed. She was starting to put the dots together…damn it the picture it made set her blood to simmer. "Shit."

"What? what have I missed here?" Bonnie comically snapped her head from the haunted look on Emma's face, to the one of fury on the beaten up sniper's. "Seriously? Sharing is caring. Spit it out."

"Gott im himmel…" Hetta held her mouth, realising why the only ones getting a cosmic karma kick to the teeth, was them…

"WHAT?!" Noriko barked, just as clueless as Bonnie. "Share the good word with us laymen, here."

"Alice-" Emma swallowed a lump in her throat. "-is evidence that human genetics can be modified to accommodate predator genes." Emma's voice was cold, and a single tear ran down her left cheek. "Human women can be…m-modified."

"To do what?" Bonnie gawked.

"To breed with." Hetta put her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. "As if the nightmare wasn't bad enough, they want us for breeding partners. To continue their species."

"That's not what Emma said." Bonnie gripped the edge of her metal bed so tightly her grimy knuckles turned white. She stared into the watery hazel eyes of her friend and demanded answers. "Right?"

"We have been _chosen_ to be Brides." Emma laughed, despite the dire situation they now found themselves in. "Their honour code is apparently integral to their way of life. So despite the risk of their species population numbers dwindling, they're still not allowed to take slaves. But they're allowed to take wives."

For a moment no one spoke. Of all the things they'd been expecting to hear, that wasn't it. suddenly being hunted on the jungle planet didn't look so bad after all.

"Over my dead, cold, rotting, maggot infested, hole ridden fucking carcass." Bonnie. Ever the poet.

"But there's more." Emma shrugged, at the end of her desperate mind as well. "Dr Jenkins is at the other side of the universe, but she's screwed us again." Emma licked the tears from her lips and sniffled. "Remember when she gave us those fancy battle suits? And put us into a hunting party? To go after dangerous hybrids?"

"That seems like a life time ago." Hetta has a flash back to standing in the RV in nothing but a towel and laughing with her friends…

"Well apparently Alice was spotted by one of the predators, and then they sent a scouting party out to investigate the people hunting Alice. Us."

"And they saw us with fancy weapons." Toni licked her teeth and sneered.

"When we cornered Alice and Eve in that warehouse the scouting party was watching us." Emma sat back on the stool and shook her head. "They watched 7 women fighting tooth and claw with weapons, skill, and purpose and found us _worthy_ to be tested."

"So if Jenkins hadn't assembled us to chase Alice, we wouldn't even _be_ here?!" Hetta threw her arms up in the air, her blue eyes watering anew.

"Speaking of tall, fangy and spotty. Why isn't Alice here?" Bonnie edged her backside on the table, so close to just running over and shaking Emma for more answers.

"And where're Eve?" Toni couldn't shake that haunting image of her friend prone and helpless under that…monster.

"…they're not here because they're with their husbands."

"No way." Toni pushed herself to lean forward. "Eve was totally out of it. This giant black alien thing had the same telepathic abilities as her. It was like he was controlling her mind. so I can understand why Eve isn't here, but Alice wouldn't give in without a fight."

"No fucking way." Bonnie banged her fists on the table, her ribs aching from the sudden movement.

"Well she did." Emma shrugged and wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "The predator that came for her was an 'old friend'."

"Fuck." Bonnie scratched the back of her head. "Well we'll snap her ass out of it later. Sure they have some of the same DNA as her, but damn it she's one of _us."_

"Eve needs rescuing too." Toni felt the bitter taste of her failure to protect the woman wash over her again. "She was so helpless. She didn't even get to fight like we did. He just flipped a switch in her head and she couldn't move."

"Don't tell me the fella that took Eve was an old friend too?"

"I don't think so, but I don't really know anything about who has Eve."

Another pensive moment passed between them. Processing so much after being so starved of any facts for so long was almost as alarming as _not_ knowing.

"So I get that they saw us fighting and thought we were strong women. We're all athletically capable." Hetta rubbed the back of her neck, ignoring how Emma raised her brow at that. "I guess weak women wouldn't survive the breeding process. But why didn't they just take us from Earth to here? Why go through putting us through hell in that jungle in the first place? Surely if they need women so badly, they shouldn't have risked us dying down there?"

"It comes back to their honour code." The drained doc chewed her bottom lip and resented once more being put on the spot like this by Vator. Everything she knew was second hand information, and it meant that her friends were directing their frustration at _her._ "Choosing us wasn't enough. We had to be tested to see if we were _worthy_ of being one of them. They call it the Bride Trials."

"What the fuck?" Toni sat forward, and ignored the flash of pain that caused. "You mean that bullshit of throwing us onto that jungle planet was to _test_ us?" Emma nodded and exhaled choppily. "What the _hell_ was that' supposed to prove?"

"That were capable of hunting and how we coped being hunted." The words tasted like bile as they left her lips, and from the expression on her friend's faces, it was received in the same light. "Actually Vator told me with _great pride_ how he had to go through a proving of his own. He paid a large sum of money." Emma sneered, looking the angriest she'd ever looking in her life. "And then he had to fight off other men who wanted to take part in the trials. Being so _damn_ victorious, he then _bid_ on me. He won, and came the jungle planet with sole purpose of putting me through his own _personal_ trial. I had to be worthy in _his_ eyes too, not just the eyes of their clan."

"Son of a bitch." Toni swung her legs over the side of the table, her body screaming at her, and she felt a wave of nausea from the violent movement. Her rage was greater than her gag reflex in that moment. "Are you telling me that the mother fucker that did _this_ to me." She pointed at her face. "Is the predator that 'won me' to be his fucking bride?" Emma nodded slowly. "Hijo de puta."

"No." Hetta lifted her head and showed the room her tear stained cheeks. Those haunting amber eyes flashed before her. And the memory of his hand sweeping down to knock her out. "No no no I'm not marrying that monster."

"You have to." Emma stood from her stool, but stopped herself from going over to Hetta. With the look on her face, the blonde might take a swing for the poor messenger. "You see, you're here because you passed your future husband's trial. Vator wanted to see me hunt. To take a trophy. Apparently the others mainly wanted to test you in combat. Watch you survive the jungle. They've been watching us from the first moment we landed on that planet. Some of them were part of the scouting party that chose us as candidates on Earth."

Emma broke down. She pressed her hands into her face and whimpered. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to listen to Vator tell me all this. All on my own. Not knowing if you'd fail your trials and be killed."

"What?!" Bonnie reached for Emma who was now in arm's reach and grabbed her shoulder. "Are you saying that if we hadn't passed their fucked up test, we've have been killed? Put down like a dog at the pound that no one wanted?"

"Mmm Hmm." Emma nodded, and then allowed Bonnie to pull her close.

Bonnie couldn't imagine how nerve wracking it must have been for the poor doc. All alone up here and worrying sick about them. And then being forced to 'tell it how it is' to the rest of them.

"And what happens if we tell them to go fuck themselves?" Noriko finally spoke. She'd been perfectly still as Emma regaled them with their appalling new position. Mulling over the new information to see if she could come up with a plan of escape. So far she had none.

"Then you forfeit your lives." Everyone was tense. When had the door opened to the hospital room? And when had _he_ come to stand there? "Emma you've done a good job. Come here."

"Go to hell." Bonnie held onto Emma even tighter and glared for all she was worth up at the Green predator. How dare he stand there with that superior air about him? Cold Green eyes looked down at them all, and he still looked terrifying, even without his armour. The skin of his face, neck, under arms and torso were a pale green, and everywhere else was a darker evergreen. He wore what could have been an enormous thick white scarf around his hips and thighs. It tied over his navel around a golden circular clasp, and the two long pieces of fabric hung between his legs like a handing skirt. Many black cords hung around his neck loosely, and housed fangs and teeth from many different creatures. Including human ones.

He cocked his head to one side, making his long black dreads sway with the movement, and he put his colossal hands on his hips.

"Emma?" He dismissed Bonnie immediately and didn't even look at her. "I told you to come here."

"I…I have to go." Emma whimpered and tried to pull Bonnie's arms from her shoulders, but they wouldn't budge. "Bonnie? You need to let go." The bounty hunter still glared up at who she assumed to be Vator, but allowed Emma enough slack to lift her head up from her chest. "I don't want to die. So I had agree. Vator is my…mate. And I need to go to him now."

"Like hell you do." Hetta stumbled from the table and marched over to stand by Emma's side. "He'll have to go through us first."

"No I won't." He chuckled. He let his mirth linger for a moment, and then turned to look out of the doorway. "Your mate comes for you."

Hetta's heart leapt into her mouth. _Shit! I got off the table!_

In all his rusty orange and black striped glory, the _tiger_ stalked into the medical room and honed his amber eyes straight onto her. "She's not taking the news well."

"No matter. I'm sure she'll calm once she realises that I don't intend her any harm." He directed at her, rather than Vator. "My name is Iru'tu. Do you remember me Hetta?" the blonde trembled and gripped the edge of the table Bonnie sat on. "Hetta? You look like you're going to faint." All the colour had drained from her cheeks.

As he took a step towards her, she did exactly that. Bonnie released Emma just in time so the doc could turn on her heels and cling to the much taller woman.

"Hetta!" She couldn't stop Hetta from falling, but Emma was able to awkwardly slow her decent and prevent her head from hitting the floor. Deep with concern Emma carefully opened one of Hetta's bright blue eyes to check her responses. She was so engrossed in her task, she didn't register the shadow that now loomed over her. "Hetta? Can you hear me Hetta?"

"Move." Iru'tu knelt down and scooped Hetta into his arms.

"NO!" Bonnie jumped down from the table and tried to take a swing for his orange face. "Put her down!"

"That would be very unwise." Vator skidded over to defend the other predator. It wasn't like Iru'tu would have been able to block the swing, as his arms cradled Hetta to his body. "Your mate will be here shortly, and I _doubt_ he'll be pleased to find a mark on your body he didn't put there himself."

"Fuck you." Bonnie was beyond caring. _Fine, you want to get a punch instead? Fine with me._

"That will be the pleasure of your mate alone." Oh, that's it. Bonnie was _so_ decking this guy in the balls. She even lifted her foot up to stomp on his groin, but was too slow. Vator launched his fist from his hip and jabbed her hard in her bruised ribs.

"F-uck." Bonnie wheezed and dropped to her knees before him.

"Bonnie!" Emma screamed and tried to get around her mate to get to her friend.

"We are leaving." Vator scooped an arm around Emma's body and lifted her up off the floor before she could reach Bonnie.

"Put me down you bastard!" Emma flailed her arms and legs, trying to at least unbalance her 'husband'. He held her to his hip like a sack of spuds, and her feet didn't even touch the floor.

"Watch your tongue." He snapped at her, and followed Iru'tu out of the room. "Your mates will arrive shortly. They will receive an alert once you leave your medical table. Yours will be here any moment." Vator sneered down at Bonnie, who was glaring at all three Vators she could see.

"Don't you hurt her you fucker!" on her hands and knees Bonnie grit her teeth and tried to crawl over to her sobbing friend. She paused when her own spectre walked into the room.

His skin was black everywhere except for his torso, neck and palms. They were creamy white, and the crest of his head held the same red mottling as his outer frame. The red 'spots' ran down his shoulders, arms, thighs and back. Oddly…it looked like he was permanently stained with human blood. Like he'd opened an artery and hadn't washed off the spray. He seemed to like the colour red so much, he died the ends of his long dreads the same colour. His wraparound skirt was also red, as where the claws that hung from his necklace. Those eyes though were yellow, and couldn't have been more of a contrast to his demonic form.

"Your mate has a foul mouth. She tried to attack Iru'tu and myself. Good luck with that one."

"Interesting." He simply chuckled. As he did Bonnie saw that the insides of his mandibles were also red. "You and I have met, but you couldn't see me at the time. I bet you remember shooting me, however." He stalked towards her and allowed Vator to drag Emma's sobbing body out of the medical bay. Bonnie reached for the medical table and dragged herself to her feet. One thing she was damn sure of, was she wasn't going without a fight, or on her knees before this monster. "Well?"

"She got you good." Toni broke the ice and pointed to the green dots on his left thigh. "Although she missed."

"No she didn't." He raised a brow at the Hispanic woman, and then looked once more on his mate to be.

Her haunted expression had changed, and become that of defiance. Toni's clip words had been enough to snap her the hell out of her trance.

"Sorry dude. But I did miss." She shrugged with a grin. "I was aiming for your balls."

Noriko cackled on her bed.

"Ah. Foul mouthed. I see." He chuckled, finding her amusing. "my name isn't 'dude."

"Who gives a shit?" Bonnie shrugged again, secretly infuriating him. But he didn't let it show.

"My name is Ta'ryn."

"I repeat. Who gives a shit?" another shrug.

"You should, as you are my mate. Anyway." He steeled himself visibly. "Thankfully you _did_ miss. So we'll still be able to consummate our bond."

"Not happening. And if you even try it, I won't miss next time." Bonnie forced herself to stand tall and clench her fists by her sides. The grin slipped off his mandibles.

"So I take it you intend to resist me?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely." _If he takes one more step I'm aiming for his balls. Or maybe his arrogant face? Nah, can't reach it in my condition. If in doubt, always go for the balls._ Bonnie's bounty hunter call name wasn't Honey Badger for no reason.

"I see." He folded his arms over his creamy chest and stared at her for a moment. "I would prefer for you to be reasonable and walk home with me."

"Then you picked the wrong wife. Sorry, but I don't do reason. Shucks. I'd say I feel bad for you dude, but I'm a bitch." He chuckled, again amused by her sarcastic ire.

"And if I were to simply knock you out again and drag you home?"

"Try it." Bonnie snarled and lifted her fists. She'd had enough of being man handled by this fuckers.

"I am going to enjoy breaking you. Sex will certainly be interesting." He took one half step towards her and lowered his arms from his chest. Clearly he was getting ready to either grab her of back hand her. Bonnie held her fists ready and bent her knees. Like hell was she letting that last quip slide. Her cheeks burned with rage and she looked like she was seconds away from a psychotic break. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a metal tray on the bed side table. It had bandages on it, but it was within arms' reach…

"In your fucking dreams are you getting a piece of my ass!"

"Your 'ass' belongs to me. I'll have it whenever I like. And the rest of you for that matter." He clicked his mandibles together and his shoulders bounced.

 _That bastard is LAUGHING at me?!_

A red mist descended over Bonnie's right mind, and she tapped into whatever residual adrenaline she had left in her exhausted, aching, dehydrated, starving, stressed out little body. She kicked a leg forward for his groin, forcing him to drop his hands to block her foot. She also grabbed the tray with her right hand, and used his dropped guard as her opening. With a mighty yell she brought the tray across his head and dinted it with the impact. He roared with rage, and back handed the tray from her hand.

What she hadn't counted on, was the fact that he _kept_ a hold of her foot with his other hand, and pulled it out from under her. She fell to the ground and hit her back and already bruised ribs on the floor. She was still seeing stars when he reached down and took a tight hold of her neck. "You will come to regret that." he sneered and thanked his lucky stars when he recovered quickly from that unexpected clout to the head.

It allowed him to hear Toni come up behind him. With her left fist she tried to punch him in the head, but he cocked his head to one side and grabbed her remaining good wrist. With a swift yank he pulled her to the floor beside Bonnie, and grabbed _her_ neck as well.

"Mother fucker!" Bonnie gripped at his wrist with both hands, as did Toni _despite_ the sling and the pain it caused her. But they were far too weak to resist his choke hold. "Let (wheeze) her (wheeze) go."

"Let _her_ go? Shouldn't you be more concerned with yourself?"

"As should you." Ta'ryn snapped his head up and turned to look at the remaining human in the room. Before he could even think the words 'but she was tied to the bed?', Noriko round house kicked him in the face. It forced him to release Bonnie and Toni turn to face the mummified shinobi. Her body shook from the strain of her injuries, but her cold gaze was even.

"Pauk!" he snarled, finally losing his temper. "That's it." he snarled, and caught movement out of the corner of his amber eyes. he turned, expecting an attack from behind, and saw Toni was up first. She had the metal tray in her left hand. He turned on his heels, grabbed her wrist and threw her lithe little body to hit Noriko. The ninja dodged, of course, but that still resulted with Toni scuttling across the floor until the far wall caught her…with a thud and a hiss.

Rolling out of the way had taken a lot of Noriko's energy, and she staggered to her feet.

Ta'ryn moved to take her out, only to _barely_ twist his right ankle in time to bring his knee into the path of Bonnie's arm. He growled and reached down between his legs to take a tight hold of her wrist. He continued to pull her wrist up until she cried out in pain, dangling in the air before him. "Stop aiming for my balls."

"Sure no problem." Bonnie gripped onto his forearm desperately to take some of her weight off her captured wrist. "Just send us back home and we'll call it even."

"You _are_ going home." Ta'ryn put her down on her feet, spinning her and baring his arm around her neck. "And now I'm going to drag you there. And there you will remain until you can be _trusted_."

"Get the fuck off me!" Bonnie clawed at his arm, giving him some scratches, but little else.

"Let her go." Toni hissed and dragged herself with her good arm, which was fast needing to also be in a sling, along the floor with her knees. "you crab faced bastard!" Noriko wobbled from one foot to the next and felt her peripheral vision start to blur. She wouldn't be able to ignore the toll on her body for much longer.

Just as it looked as if Ta'ryn would have the pleasure of another wave, another predator hurried into the room.

"I had to restrain the one on the floor. She attacked me as I tried to _subdue_ my mate."

"She isn't mine." The new predator shrugged. "The one covered in bandages is mine."  
"You can all go and fuck yourselves!" Bonnie managed to twist her neck in his hold and sank her teeth into his arm.

"AAAARRRRRRGGGGggggg." Ta'ryn trilled in a rage. "That's it!" he dragged her flailing body over to a cupboard, even as she did her best to chew his arm, and retrieved a needle. He placed it in his mouth to start with, and then reached between their bodies.

Bonnie screamed into his bleeding arm as he shoved his hand down the back of her trousers and ragged them down below her left buttock. "You forced me to do this." Ta'ryn hissed in her ear as he retrieved the needle from his mouth. Without warning or hesitation impaled her in the butt with it. Bonnie fought it for as long as she could, but within seconds her body sagged in his arms. Her mouth rolled off his arm, coated in green blood.

"Feisty, that one." A predator with pale grey skin, creamy torso and face, and the brightest icy blue eyes chuckled at Ta'ryn. The darker predator sneered, not finding it funny.

"Feisty isn't even the word. Oh, and you have a similar mate to me. I wouldn't lower your guard if I were you. They've both tried to take a pop at me. They were _amusing_ , but my mate was _definitely_ the worst." He grimaced.

"I see." The pale predator chuckled and turned to smirk at Noriko.

Toni was shocked to watch from her position on the floor as Noriko staggered back in fear. It was hard to think that _anything_ could scare the shinobi.

But then the severity of her injuries came to mind. Noriko had a high pain threshold, with her training as a ninja. So no doubt any normal women wouldn't have been capable of getting off the bed. Never mind getting out of restraints and attacking Ta'ryn. So this pale predator must have been the one to kick the seven bells of shit out of her. "Ah. You remember me then?" he pushed his grey dreads behind him and put his hands on his white covered hips. "Good. I am called Kuruk. I never got your name."

Ta'ryn lifted Bonnie's limp body into his arms, and it occurred to him that he didn't know _her_ name either. He shrugged. It wasn't important at the moment.

"No! Don't take her!" Toni pushed herself up on her knees and flung herself over to a metal table. She groaned as her body refused to stand on its own, but wouldn't give up Bonnie. Not whilst she was still conscious.

Kuruk passed Toni like she was insignificant and headed only for Noriko.

"Oni! Stay away from me!"

"What's your name?" He asked again politely, ignoring the way Noriko backed away from him until her back came up against the far wall.

Toni was just about to use whatever strength she could scrape off the bottom of her reserves, when finally _he_ arrived.

Dark brown skin with even darker brown spots. His short auburn dreads flicked around his face, and he didn't hesitate to bee line straight for her.

"No!" Toni fell from her hinged position on the table and landed on her bum. She inhaled harshly, and dragged herself back with one hand. "No no no no."

"Toni." He spoke her name in a soft whisper as he rounded her table to stare down at her with deep brown eyes. "Wait…" he frowned. "Why do you look _worse_ than when I left you here?"

"Because that FUCKER threw me around!" Toni barked over to Ta'ryn, who was just about to walk through the doorway.

The brown Predator roared and faced Ta'ryn with his mandibles flared.

"Did you _dare_ to touch my mate?"

"Heh." Ta'ryn laughed at the audacity of the thing. "I restrained her _after_ she attacked me. Repeatedly." He sneered.

"Ah…I see." His body language relaxed and he nodded to Ta'ryn. "In that case I apologise on behalf of my mate. As of yet she doesn't understand our ways and how seriously a challenge is taken."

"Worry not Sargo. Oh, and if you need to trank her there are plenty of darts in that storage cupboard." Ta'ryn rolled his amber eyes and looked down at his 'prize'. "I need to invest in some padlocks…and chains…"

As the Berserker left the hospital room, Sargo turned do look down at the spot his mate _was_ cowering in. finding the floor clear, he snapped his head round to find her.

"Toni no!" Sargo leapt after her and wrapped his arms around her middle _just_ before she was able to reach the doorway. "You can't go walking around this ship on your own. You'll get lost, and no doubt in trouble." He chuckled near her ear. Damn it she was so tired and so badly bruised, breathing was starting to hurt. She just didn't have the energy to fight him anymore.

"Get off me you sadistic cabrón!" not that he had to know that.

"You're mine Toni. I'll never let you go." He lifted her up into his arms and ignored the way she winced at being manhandled.

"I will never give myself to you." Toni glared for all she was worth at him through her black eye and busted lip. "Never."

"You say that now." he chuckled. "But I'm sure you'll see how your quality of life will be _so_ much better when you do." He winked at her, pissing her off even more, and carried her out of the hospital room.

Noriko was the last one standing. She pressed her hands against the wall behind her and watched the ghostly creature before her for any sudden movements.

"You will tire before I do." He tilted his head to one side, creeping her out when he just…smiled at her. "And then I will embrace you to my chest and carry you home, little r'ka." Kuruk saw her body sway, and took a step towards her.

"My name is Noriko." She shook her head as another wave of dizziness tried to claim her. "And I will kill you in your sleep. I will slit your throat and you won't even wake."

"Hn." He took another step towards her. "I'm sure you'll warm up to me, my little r'ka."

"Stop…calling…"

Her body slumped forward and into his waiting arms. He exhaled with relief and lifted her scrawny little body into his arms.

"You need fresh bandages. And it looks like you've pulled some of your stitches as well." He shook his head and turned to carry her over to one of the medical tables. "Might as well get some supplies whilst we're here, ay little r'ka?" he chuckled to himself and retrieved a medical kit and lots of spare bandages. "Better get some medi gel too."

He stopped as he passed the cupboard where Ta'ryn retrieved a trank dart…he glanced back at Noriko's unconscious body for a moment, nodded, and grabbed a fistful of them. They went in the medical bag with 6 rolls of bandages. Kuruk put the bag over his shoulder and carefully retrieved his Bride. "Time to go home, Noriko."


	14. Separate sisters

"Just calm down!" K'tan ducked as another chair came hurtling towards him. He shattered against the wall, and he kept his hands up in submission. "There really is no need to be so angry about this."

"No need?!" Alice stood tall and proud in the middle of a very grand apartment. at least, that's what K'tan had said when he brought her 'home' last night. Fine fur rugs, a wide fireplace and many prize trophies ordained the dull metal walls. A blue banner hung by the bedroom door with a silver printed rune on it. It looked like the omega symbol, but upside down and with a dot over each curved end. She nearly knocked the banner down with the last chair she'd thrown at K'tan. "We pauk once, and you think you can tell me what I _need_?!"

"Ih'lek, please."

"My name is Alice!" She roared, and grabbed a silver plate from the kitchen table. "And when I agreed to be your mate, I _never_ agreed to be your prisoner!"

"Wait a minute!" He skipped on his agile feet out of the way of the silver plate. The speed she'd thrown that at him…well he didn't want to think what would have happened to his neck had he not dodged it. "You're not a prisoner!" He stood behind a large crimson leather sofa and braced his hands on it. "You just need to learn our ways before you go walking around the A'nok mother ship."

"Who's Anok?" Alice stormed over to stand on the other side of the sofa. Her long lilac chiffon hanging skirt swayed with the movement, as did her long brown dreads, and her breasts jiggled ever so slightly in her lilac boob tube.

K'tan sighed and put his hands up. Alice was reacting like any true Yautja woman would when cornered. With rage and violence. He cleared his throat, clicking his left mandibles together as he thought how to phrase his next words.

"It's not your fault you don't know how our people work culturally. I promise I'll teach you so you can have all the freedoms that every other Yautja woman has. But it will take time."

"I want to see my friends."

K'tan sighed and pinched the bridge between his amber eyes.

"I know you want to see them. But I've already explained _why_ you can't see them _yet._ Your friends need to…" K'tan clattered as he found the right words. Alice had been easy to persuade to agree to be his mate, but apparently her obedience was not something she wanted to give him. Or her trust. "They need to come to terms with their new living situations, and get to know their mates. The last thing that will help with that process is either of us sticking our mandibles into their business."

Alice snarled and kicked the sofa. It juddered, but didn't break or topple over. So she'd not put her rage into that kick. She was clearly just frustrated. It was this change in mood that convinced K'tan it was safe to approach her. He circled the sofa and dared to put his hand on her shoulder. Alice whimpered, the fight in her truly gone. Or at least, for now. She allowed K'tan to use his grip on her shoulder to pull her into his arms. "I know you mean well Alice. And I understand that this is hard for you. I'm going to do everything I can to help you. I promise." He embraced her tightly, and rubbed her back and shoulders tenderly. She whimpered into the crook of his pale brown neck and pressed her hands to his chest. "I fought so many of my clansmen to see you again Alice. From that moment I first met you I knew you were meant to be mine. You taunted me with your body and your prowess." He purred into her neck and inhaled her scent and basked in it.

"I agreed to be your mate." Alice pushed on his chest just enough to raise her head and look him straight in the eyes. "I agreed because I already have feelings for you. From before. I trust you when you say you'll take care of me." Just as he lowered his face to kiss her, she shoved him away with enough force that he dropped to his ass on the sofa. "And _you_ said that all my _friends_ would be here with their new mates too." Alice folded her arms under her bust and narrowed her amber eyes on K'tan. "But how do I know that you were telling me the truth unless I see my friends? And my sister! Can't I at _least_ see her?"

"Well…I don't think that would be…wise." K'tan rested his arms along the back of the sofa and nodded for Alice to sit beside him. When she didn't he sighed. "The one who now calls her mate is…not of this clan. He is here as an ambassador from another Clan who we intend to merge with." Intrigued and worried for her sister, Alice finally sat beside him. She didn't touch him however. "He is also more formidable than any Yautja I have _ever_ seen. Second only to his father, the deadliest and most _feared_ Clan-master the universe has ever seen." Alice gulped and held her elbows.

Such a man didn't sound kind or approachable.

"Why would such an important hunter want my sister?" Alice felt her amber eyes watering, and she allowed K'tan to pull her into his side. "She isn't even part predator like me. Does he want to hunt her?!"

"Oh no Ih'lek." He rubbed her shoulders and made the most of this contact with her. K'tan purred and pressed his mandibles against her cheek once. A chaste kiss. The last thing he wanted was for her to throw him off her. "He was the only one to want your sister, but trust me when I say they are a _perfect_ match. Kantanu would never hurt her…outside of training session. Trust me, he is very honourable." K'tan shrugged and clattered his left mandibles together. "He comes across as dark and intense but trust me, he will be a good mate to your sister."

"How do you know he wouldn't hurt her?" Alice turned her face up to look deep into his slightly darker amber eyes. It was shameful she knew, but knowing he desired her body, she put her hands against his chest and traced the outline of some of his darker brown stripes. "Do you know him?"

"Yes." K'tan spoke softly and dropped his eyes down to her fingers. The urge to return the gesture to _her_ chest was great. The memory of her writhing on his lap on the Ooman train came to the front of his mind. all these weeks he'd dreamed about having her again. When he could take his time and not have to run against the timer of his respiratory needs.

She might not be a full Yautja woman, but she was _still_ stunning. Long legs, curvaceous and busty…his hands twitched as he ignored his body's command to explore her bountiful form. Every one of her leopard spot markings seemed to sing out to him and demand he caress them with his mandibles. Her deep honey skin looked so delicious.

Then of course, there was the primal urge to once again lose his mind between her thighs and draw all those exquisite noises from her thin lips once more.

"How do you know him? Is he a friend?" K'tan snapped his hungry gaze from her breasts to look at her face. It took his mind a moment to recall what she'd just said before he could reply.

"More than a friend." He chuckled, and experimentally brought his arm up behind her to rub her back. Finally she was allowing him to touch her. he placed his other hand on her knee and traced her jaw with his mandibles. She smelt so good…at least he would taste her again. "He's my cousin."

"What?!" Alice punched his chest, winding him and giving her enough time to scramble off the couch and snarl down at him.

So much for their intimate moment. "Then why the HELL can't I see Eve?" If she's mated to your cousin, can't you just call him up and-"

"I said he was my cousin Ih'lek." K'tan launched himself to his feet and glowered down at her. it finally occurred to him that she'd only allowed their closeness to press him for information. A cruel trick indeed. "I never said we were close, or that my rank was close enough to his to make _demands_ of him. Besides, even if we _were_ close, right now I can't trust you out there." He pointed to the locked front door. "You have yet to truly accept your role as my mate. I am _not_ letting you influence the bonding experience of any of my clansmen, until you have cemented your bond to _me."_

"I've already agreed to this." Alice tangled her fingers in her long brown deadlocks. "What more do you want from me?"

Ah, the most pressing question in the room. The preverbal mandible wearing elephant, so to speak.

"You have to lay with me and say the words of bonding. I need to _trust_ you as my mate. Integrate you into my culture, and then, _then_ , I'll let you see your sister and your friends. You might have 'agreed to this', but your eyes betray you. you welcome my love as much as you welcome my touch." He snarled, and panted at her glaring face for a moment.

"What do you expect? You _promised me_ that you would _never_ put me in a cage again." Heavy tears fell from Alice's eyes and she bore her teeth and fangs at him. "And yet look around K'tan? Look at my new _luxurious_ cage. I am your prisoner. And you expect me to be _grateful_?!"

"Yes! You should be grateful!" He barked at her, storming over to the kitchen and gripping the counter with more strength than was necessary. "I broke several bones and endured much pain during the proving trials. I am victorious, powerful, wealthy, and I _care_ about you." K'tan turned round and threw his arms out at her. "Your friends can't profess that their new mates are all of those things. And _unlike_ your friends, you know what's it's like to lay with your mate. You know I care for you."

"I know that you like to have sex with me. that's all I know about you." K'tan turned and leaned his lower back against the counter side. He folded his arms over his chest, and for a moment he said nothing.

"…like I said. Once you are truly my mate and I trust you, _then_ you can see your friends. Until then, you better start getting to know me. After all, I _am_ your mate now." the finality of his statement and the cold edge to his words cut her deep. Alice dropped onto the sofa and cried into her hands. This time K'tan didn't comfort her. Instead he turned his back to her and started moving pots and pans around. "You must be hungry. I'll start cooking dinner. Feel free to… _freshen up_ in the bathroom."

"Which one is that?" Alice was still sobbing as she turned to look at his back. He lifted his left arm to point at the door his side.

"Through the master bedroom." A short moment late she'd vanished through the door, and he released a deep sigh. "…I wanted this. I still want this. She will come round." He clicked his left mandibles together and busied himself chopping what looked like green peppers. "With time, and perseverance, she'll come round."

Eve came round slowly. Her head still hurt, and she instinctively lifted her hands up to cradle it before even opening her eyes. When her arms jerked against resistance, she opened her onyx eyes to inspect the problem. She saw a large black arm slither back from her abdomen and retreat behind her. with a scared hiss Eve scrambled forward and away from that arm, falling off a large white fur covered bed. she landed on all fours and sprang up to her feet. What she saw made her heart skip a beat.

It was the same creature from the jungle. He stood on the other side of the bed, so tall, so utterly terrifying and so very still. His red and green eyes were fixed on her. His skin was the same colour as her eyes and tail, and _his_ skeletal tail was _much_ bigger than hers. The rest of his body was much like a totally berserker predator, but he _felt_ like a Xenomorph. There was something both powerful and haunting about his presence. Even with his long black dreadlocks tamed with silver bolts, a brown wraparound skirt and brown leather armlets making him look like a predator…you would _not_ mistake him for one of them.

It felt like an age before he finally spoke. His mandibles clicked a few times, and then he spoke with a voice that was quiet and yet deafening.

 **"** **I am Kantanu."**

"Th-that's your name?" Eve held her elbows, but didn't dare move. She felt like a rabbit staring into the eyes of a fox. One false move and he'd pounce.

 **"** **Yes."** He inclined his head and caused his dreads to sway. **"Do you remember me from the jungle?"**

"Yes." She gulped, and shoved her ebony hair behind her ears. "Your voice hurt me."

 **"** **No, my mind did."** He blinked once, slowly. **"It is why we now talk with tongues. You are not strong enough to join minds with me…not yet."**

"Where is my sister?" Eve dared to take her fathomless eyes off him to scan their surroundings. They stood in the middle of a grand bedroom. The floor beneath her feet was soft like carpet and black in colour. There were no windows and the walls were a dull silver metal colour with many carvings in them. She didn't recognise the language, but in places there were murals of predators fighting each other and hunting lesser species. Including humans and aliens. A large fireplace faced the end of the bed, and a large white fur rug sat on the floor between them.

 **"** **With her mate."**

"Her what?" that brought her attention back to him, and she squealed. In her moment of distraction he had silently crawled over the bed and now stood within arm's reach of her.

 **"** **Her mate."** His voice was soft and yet there was nothing reassuring about his manner. **"As you are with yours."**

"I don't understand." She gulped and coiled her tail around her feet. There was no point trying to run. With a thought he had paralysed her before. And it had hurt so much she'd blacked out. Eve was no match for this creature.

 **"** **You were all being tested on that planet. The Yautja, what you call predators, are in desperate need of breeding partners."** Eve bit her lips together and trembled as she saw his colossal tail slither along the floor towards her. **"Your brood was selected to pass a trail to be found worthy of becoming the mates of members of this clan. They passed, and have all joined their mates here. On the mother ship."**

His tail coiled around the end of hers, and even without using his telepathy, she felt him clawing into her mind with just this gesture.

"So…does that include Alice? My sister?"

 **"** **Yes. And you."** Her onyx eyes opened wide.

"Y…you want to _breed_ with me?"

 **"** **Eventually."** He shrugged, and then chuckled darkly. **"You are lucky I requested to add you to the trail. No one else is capable of breeding with you. Your capture would have resulted in a very different fate had I not intervened."**

"So…" Eve did the math very quickly. "I wasn't on that planet for the same reason as the others? I was just to be hunted and killed?"

 **"** **Yes."** He used his tail to lift hers up, and to her horror he reached out and took hold if it in his right hand. Just below the spear tip, and leaned forward to stare down into her eyes. **"You are welcome."**

"…I see." Eve pursed her lips together and didn't know what else to say. That was, until she did. "Since I am to be your mate, and my sister is to be mated to someone else here, will I be able to see her?"

 **"…** **if I allow it."**

Her eyes narrowed on her capture, and she stopped shaking. Her new master was now her new saviour.

"And what do I have to do for you to _allow_ me to see my sister?"

 **"** **Please me."** He turned his massive form back towards the bed and used his grip on her tail to lead her back there.

"N-now?" Eve panicked. The hitch in her voice caught his attention, but apparently amused him. The deep chuckle he released was infuriating. Especially as he didn't even bother to turn around to address her anxiety. He just yanked her onto the bed and pushed her down onto her back. "I-I don't-"

 **"** **I will not force your legs open Eve."** He laid next to her and his tail coiled around the circular edge of the bed, flicking at the end like a cat. **"I will not need to. There is no pressure for you and I to breed. Not like the others."**

"I don't understand." Eve turned onto her side to face him, and felt so powerless. Her fate, and her future, were in the hands of this mighty spectre. "What did you mean by 'please you', if you didn't mean sex?"

 **"…** **I didn't enter the trail to breed you, Eve. I will eventually want your body, but there is something I crave more than that right now."** He purred deeply, and stared at her with dark intent. **"I want your mind."**

"N-no." Eve tried to crawl backwards off the bed, but his tail shot round and slammed down to press her into the bed. "No please! It really hurt!"

 **"** **I crave the mental connection of another. I chose you, so I could have that."**

"No, no please!" she flailed her limbs around, trying to break free, but to no avail. Her eyes watered, and she pleaded up at her 'mate'. "I'll fuck you. just don't-"

 **"** **You will come to enjoy the embrace of my mind."** he crawled over her body and hissed slowly around her face. **"It will** **feel** **like we're fucking by the time I've trained you."**

"Oh please don't enter my mind again. Please." She begged for all she was worth.

 **"** **You are welcome to resist me Eve. That is your right. But your skill is lacking. I will teach you exactly how your mind can be used to pleasure and torture. Soon? You will find you are so powerful, I will be the** **only** **one capable of controlling you. And on that day?"** He opened his mandibles wide and out slithered an inner mouth. It opened at the end as he shrilled in her face, but stopped just short of her face. Eve cried out in fear, and tears streamed down her face. He thought she looked so stunning like that. Her hair fanned around her face like a dark halo. Her breasts pushing up against his tail and writhing beneath him. Like a fallen angel that was totally at his mercy.

He retracted the appendage back into his mouth and shook his head. He then hissed again, and leaned so close she could taste his spicy breath. **"On that day Eve, you will** **beg** **me to fuck you."**

Kantanu craned his head, caressing the air around her face, and Eve screamed in agony. He pressed his consciousness against hers and overwhelmed her with whispers and images. She couldn't make sense of all the information as there was just too much of it. Eve arched against the mattress and thrashed against him. After 2 minutes of this torture it became too much. Sensory overload. She blacked out and sagged into the bed. **"Well done. You lasted twice as long as last time."** He traced his mandibles over her left jaw and cheek, and then crawled backwards off her. **"This is going to be so much fun."**


	15. Pansy ass dress

Bonnie groaned and lifted her hand to land on her face. She felt groggy, like she'd been drinking all night. She rubbed her face and stretched, realising she was laid on her back. Her other hand felt at the sheet beneath her, and she realised she was on a bed.

Unfortunately, the hangover she now had, didn't interfere with her memories. Swaying and holding her head Bonnie clawed at the bed to sit up. She blinked, her vision still a bit blurry, and saw she was in a small bedroom. The bed she was sat on was a plain rectangle made of wood and white bedding. She noticed the walls were silver and had casting of strange looking hieroglyphs and depictions of yautja on the hunt. She cleared her throat and turned her head to spot a wardrobe with four draws on the bottom, made of the same silver metal as the walls. To the right was an open door to what looked like a bathroom. _I could do with some cold water on my face. Maybe I'd feed a bit more human then._ Bonnie dragged herself up to stand and felt something soft against her skin. Blinked, cocked her head to one side, and then looked down her body.

"…son…of a bitch…" She lifted her arms and opened her mouth with horror. "…a dress? I'm wearing…a fucking _dress?!"_

Deep blue chiffon like fabric flowered around her. It rippled as she staged over to the wardrobe and stood before one of the mirrors set in the doors. She gawked at her reflection. On her left shoulder was a silver disc that held the fabric of the dress over her shoulder. It hugged at her bust, was drawn in by a thick sash at her waist, and then fluttered down to her ankles. She flapped her left harm, which was visible through semi transparent blue fabric. Baggy, thankfully, but still very _dainty_.

Bonnie didn't _do_ dainty.

She was livid enough at the dress, but then she lifted her hands to her head. Her long thick brown hair had been washed, brushed and the top half was braided into four long plaits. They sat upon the lower bulk of her silky mane, with silver bolts fastening them at the ends.

Bonnie was not happy. "Fucking arsehole's barbied me! Son of a bitch!" She staggered into the bathroom, panting with rage. She turned the tap on and scooped water to her face. she then looked up at the small mirror there and saw the ire burning in her blue eyes. She scowled and looked around for anything she could hit him with. Behind her was a small shower cubicle and three small dispensers were fixed to the wall. She saw a toilet to her right, which she made desperate use of, and no such random weapons laying around for her to use.

Bonnie stormed back into the bedroom and scanned around again. Nope. No ornaments, no vases, nothing she could pick up and use as a weapon. she could grab a pillow, but that would be comical, not fatal.

She groaned and sat on the bed. _How long was I out? What else did that fucker do to me whilst I was out of it?_ Bonnie held the back of her head and thought hard about what to do next. _My team are all scattered aboard an alien mothership. All being held hostage as baby mamas. I need to somehow find them all, boost a ship and fine our way back to Earth. All without getting captured, shot, and fucked._ She huffed and rolled her eyes at herself. _Great plan there Bonnie. Where do I even start?_

A knock at her door drew her eyes to it, and she sneered. _Oh great. Mr graby's back._

"Bonnie? I heard you walking around in there. You've been asleep for three days. You must have been exhausted from the trail."

Bonnie closed her eyes, clenched her fists on her lap and grit her teeth. Otherwise she'd have started screaming profanities at him. "You are home, and safe. That bedroom is yours as is the joined bathroom. Your bruising has nearly completely gone too. I thought you might be hungry so I've brought you something to eat."

Bonnie opened her mouth to tell him to shove his food up his ass…but her stomach grumbled in protest. _I can't really spite myself by going on a hunger strike. I haven't eaten anything decent since being abducted. Fruit here and there on the jungle planet got me through, but damn I'm starving._ Bonnie exhaled deeply and walked over to the door. _if I'm going to have the energy to fight this guy, I'm going to need to eat._ She pushed at the door, but it wouldn't open. Bonnie huffed, and tried again, harder this time. "Bonnie?" He must have heard the banging. "To your right there is a door release panel. Green means open, red means locked."

She spotted the panel and groaned. It was red. She pushed the button and it turned green the second before the doors parted in the centre and opened. Bonnie raised a brow and looked up into the yellow eyes of her captor. He looked down at her, the red ends of his long black dreads swaying as he regarded her, his head at a subtle incline. He looked like the thing of nightmares, black as night with arterial like red mottling across his skin. The cream of his torso and neck didn't offset his menacing appearance. Not even the choice of a white wrap around skirt. "Good morning Bonnie." He cleared his throat, about to try and welcome her to their home, when she swung a fist up towards his face. He caught her wrist and pulled her forward to stumble past him. "Well, I may not be an expert on Ooman culture, but I'm sure that's not the normal way to greet someone." Ta'ryn groaned and rolled his yellow eyes. He backhanded another fist and raised his own in defence. "If you wish to spar, we should really go to the training hall. Perhaps after breakfast?"

Bonne seethed. She shook with it and was seconds away from screaming up at him. "…fine. You want to fight? We can fight here. Just try not to break anything?" Ta'ryn sighed, not at all how he wanted their first morning together to go, but ah well. "If this will make you feel better, then we can-"

"Feel better?!" Bonnie hissed and kicked over a side table next to his sofa. "You want me to _feel_ better?!"

"…yes?" He raised a brow. Was this a trick question? He was very confused by her behaviour. He knew his mate was stubborn and difficult, but this as odd…her fiery blue eyes…were welling with tears. "Bonnie?! What's wrong?" Ta'ryn lowered his fists and reached for her face.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Bonnie screeched and stumbled back from him. "Look at me! Look at this bullshit!" She fisted at her blue skirt with one hand and lifted one of her braids with the other.

"…I'm looking." Ta'ryn held his hands up, very out of his depth here. "You look very pretty. Do you…not like it?"

"I was unconscious. For three days?" Bonnie snarled and there was something very worrying about the way she looked at him. "I wake up smelling like fucking soap, my hair done and wearing a pansy ass dress?"

"…yes?" Ta'ryn narrowed his yellow eyes on her and took a step towards her. "Your other clothes were shredded to pieces, stained with blood, and you were filthy. Not exactly the ideal hygienic conditions for your recovery."

"So you took it upon yourself to do what exactly?!" Bonnie backed away from him, and held her stomach with one hand to control the nauseous butterflies there. "What did you do with my naked unconscious body for three days? I swear to God if you did any freaky shit to me or if I'm pregnant I'll-"

"How _dare_ you?!" Ta'ryn was now just as angry as Bonnie was. If not more so. "I cared for my mate. I washed you, clothed you and tended to your wounds." He pointed at her and his mandibles flared as he snarled. "I would _never_ force myself on you." He gripped his fists by his sides and stormed past her, growling as she stumbled back out of his way. Ta'ryn wasn't even close enough to her to warrant such an obvious nervous reaction. He came a stop in the kitchen area behind the main living room. He picked up a plate of sausages and jerky, and walked back over to her. "I will not eat with a woman who thinks so little of my honour. Go and eat in your room."

"Honour?" Bonnie sniggered and took the plate, almost sending her food to the floor in the process. "It's honourable to abduct, torment, hunt and keep women hostage to force them to have your children is it? Oh Buddy, you and I have a different definition of what honour is." Ta'ryn roared, his mandibles flaring and the urge to smack her almost too great to resist.

"That isn't fair! You were chosen for your skill. You proved your-Bonnie?!" She was walking away from him, the height of rudeness. "Bonnie come back here!"

"No. I'm going to my room to eat like a good little pet." She snarled over her shoulder at him.

"You can't just accuse me of such heinous things and then walk away!" Ta'ryn chased her to the doorway, only to stop when her hand came over the door release. "Let me at least explain-"

"Oh who gives a shit about your explanations." Bonnie pushed the panel, the light went red and the door shut on him. she heard him roar with anger and bang his fist on the door.

Bonnie sat on the edge of her bed and took a bite out of the sausage. It was good, actually. Definitely not pork, but tasty. She chewed it and ignored the sound of his ranting demands that she opened the door. "Not fucking happening." She spoke to herself softly as she ate her meal. Once done she held her stomach and closed her eyes. _No. I need the energy. Don't barf. I'll never get away from him if I can't keep my food down. Mind over matter. Do not barf._

Her mind helpfully brought up the scenario of her naked body in his arms, his hands lathering soap across her most intimate areas, and how he might have enjoyed it. _oh I'm going to barf!_ Bonnie ran across the bedroom, into the bathroom and gripped the edge of the toilet seat just in time to bring her breakfast back up. _Ah shit. Well I hope this is going to go like prison and I get three meals a day. Better luck with lunch._

Bonnie groaned and heaved again. Her mind went to her friends and she worried deeply for them. _Three day's I've been out. How have the others coped? Alice apparent had a thing and agreed straight away to be with her mate. Maybe she's happy? I'll smack the stupid out of her later. Eve sounded like a victim like the rest of us though. Toni described a monster dragging her off._ She shuddered as she threw up again. _Well at least my 'owner' said he wont force himself on me. Hopefully the others are in the same boat? If we can just hold on and get together, then we might be able to come up with a plan to-_

Her bedroom door opened. She heard it and winced, but didn't dare move from the toilet. Bonnie only groaned when she heard him come up behind her. _Great. Just what I need. More humiliation._

"Bonnie?" Ta'ryn knelt down behind her and gathered her hair in his hands. "Ah, that's why the medical alert opened your door. Yes the pamphlets said you might go through shock. It's alright. I've got you."

"Get _off_ me." Bonnie drawled pathetically, only to lurch into the toilet again. He held her hair in one hand, braids and all, and the other rubbed her back. "I said get off."

"You just concentrate on being sick. The sooner you're done, the sooner I can help you clean up and get back into bed. You're clearly still strained from the trials. I'll bring you some water and something to help with the nausea."

"Fuck…off…" Bonnie really just wanted him to leave her alone.

"No." Ta'ryn spoke sternly, halting his hand on her back. "I am your mate. I will care for you, whether you like it or not. Your well being is important to me. You can hiss and swear at me until you're blue in the face, but I'm _not_ leaving you alone in this state." Bonnie groaned and shuddered, feeling another wave of nausea rising up. "It's alright. Let it out. You're ok. You're safe now, and I'll take good care of you Bonnie."

"Son of a-" She heaved her guts out, furious at the gentle way he rubbed her back and spoke soothing words to her.

By the time she was finished any energy reserves she had were gone. She slumped off the toilet and sat against the wall. Her blue eyes shut and her limps as limp as her ability to defy him. She groaned and opened her eyes to glare through half lids as Ta'ryn fussed over her. "-off." She managed, but was ignored. The berserker used a damp cloth to wipe her mouth and brought a cup of liquid to her lips.

"Mouth wash." He tipped the pink liquid into her mouth, which she swirled and the rebellious thought of pitting it into his face flashed in her eyes. He must have seen it, as he pushed the cup back over her mouth to catch it. She sighed and spit into the cup instead. "Alright. Let's get you into bed."

"Pervert." Bonnie grumbled, hating that she couldn't stop him from lifting her up into his arms.

"It is not a perversion to care for your mate." Ta'ryn chided her and carried her effortlessly back to her bed. He gently laid her down and touched her forehead with his palm. "You're not too warm. I'll bring you some water. Get some rest. Don't worry, we have all the time in the world for you to get better. My people very rarely go into shock, but I know that its something that takes time to recover from." He stood over her and nodded. "You just let me know what you need. Water? Help to the bathroom? More food? Anything." His mandibles pursed into a smile. "All you have to do is shout and I'll come running."

"I want…"

"Yes?" Ta'ryn leaned closer.

"…to go home." Ta'ryn sighed and stood upright, his arms folding over his cream chest.

"You are home Bonnie." He closed his yellow eyes and shook his head. "I'll be right outside in the living room if you need anything." He walked out and sighed. Ta'ryn sat on the sofa and held up a tablet, reading and swiping through the pamphlets on Ooman brides. _I better log her illness with the medical wing. The tour of the ship I planned will have to be postponed. Shame. I was going to take her to the med labs so she could see her friend Emma. Vator wouldn't mind, I'm sure. Then again that might not be a good idea._ He turned to look towards her open bedroom door, and saw that she'd already passed out. _A fighting fit Bonnie might decide to swipe something deadly from the lab to stab me with. Or try to make a run for it with her friend. I can't trust her yet. I thought doing something nice for her might endear me to her, but that hate she just showed me? A nice gesture isn't going to correct that. I will need to win her over completely before I can trust her outside of these walls._


	16. Oh C'jit

Four days had passed since Bonnie had become his patient. Ta'ryn had doted on her day and night. He brought her water, food, changes of clothes and spoke to her as she laid on the bed. He'd been disappointed at first that she intended to simply sulk. Ta'ryn was sure she had returned to a healthy colour after one day in bed.

However…it had prove useful. As he tended to her, he managed to start up conversations and tease information from her. Like, that she hunted badbloods on her world. That she hunted men and women who had done heinous things, and those who simply didn't pay their debts. He told her with great delight that he was a Badblood hunter, which is why he chose her. He hoped they could one day hunt side by side.

Alas, Bonnie had been in his home now for a whole week. She hadn't been what he expected. He thought she'd fight him, attack him or try to run. He at least thought shed regularly n scream at him with her colourful language like she had when she woke up. But no.

In fact, today they sat together on her bed, Bonnie wrapped up in her bedsheet and rubbing her eyes.

"You still seem tired?"

"Yeah. I can't remember ever feeling this crap." Bonnie held the back of her neck and groaned. She slumped back against the headboard and shrugged when Ta'ryn narrowed his yellow eyes on her. "I'm so bored though."

"Oh?" He leaned on one hand on the mattress and clicked his mandibles in thought. "Well when you're feeling better I've got lots of ideas to entertain you." Bonnie raised an accusatory brow at him, making him chuckle. "Ah _no_ , I meant things that got you _out_ of bed. Like a tour of the mothership?" Bonnie's blue eyes lit up and her lips tugged, like she _almost_ smiled.

"…would I…see my friends?"

"Well, some maybe." Ta'ryn was eager to kindle this hope in her. "I know that Emma works alongside _her_ made in the med labs. And Alice is supposedly sighted in the training hall with her mate, when they aren't at home together. I don't know about the others, but we could definitely see them?"

"That would be good I guess." Bonnie looked off to one side and chewed the inside of her cheek. She was trying to play it off, but Ta'ryn could tell it meant a lot for her to see friends. Bonnie then yawned and snuggled down into the bed. "I'm tired again."

"Alright." Ta'ryn chuckled and smiled down at her. However long she was going to keep up this sulk he'd be patient. "Well I've put a tub of jerky out onto the kitchen table if you get hungry. Feel free to help yourself."

"You're going out?" Bonnie peered her eyes open and raised a brow at him.

"Just for a little while. You'll be asleep anyway." Bonnie groaned and folded her arms over the blanket in a sulk.

"Great, so you're going out, I'm stuck here feeling shitty and have jerky for company? So fucking bored." Bonnie huffed over onto her side, grunting with displeasure.

Ta'ryn drummed his fingers on his thigh and clicked his mandibles together. If he left her now she'd be in such a foul mood when he returned. All that hard work tending to her would be for nothing.

"I could stay? I don't have to go." Ta'ryn sighed. He'd been really looking forward to unwinding with his friends too. "I can keep you company."

"…pervert. Watching me whilst I sleep…" Bonnie kept her back to him and pulled the covers up over her shoulder. "…I'll sleep and eat jerky. Get out of my hair already."

He leaned over her and saw a sheepish look on her face. "Go on. You've been stuck to my ass for a week. I get sick of me sooner than that." She waved her hand over her shoulder. "Gimme the tablet so I can read something if I wake up."

"Alright." He chuckled and lifted off the bed with a smile drawing his mandibles close. He walked out to the living room, picked up the digital display pad, and returned to Bonnie to give it to her. "I have the welcome pamphlets open for you. where did you get up to last time?" Ta'ryn swiped his hand over the screen as he navigated through the menus.

"…the history of clan A'nok…send me straight to bloody sleep that one." Ta'ryn chuckled, not biting her obvious attempt to rile him up.

"Then the next passage is 'rites of passage from trial to trial'."

"…I'll be asleep in fucking no time." He chuckled and placed the tablet on here table. "You remembered to put it to English right?"

"Yes, Bonnie, I have activated the translation app. You will be able to read in your native language at your leisure."

Bonnie pretended to snore loudly, making him chuckle at her. "If you're _sure_ you won't die of boredom, then I'll be heading out." More fake snoring and he headed of her bedroom. "Shall I bring the jerky in for you?"

"Nah. I know where the kitchen is." She said snippily, and he chuckled at her.

"Alright Bonnie. Rest well, and enjoy your reading."

Bonnie breathed softly and relaxed, humming comfortably. He smiled, watching her from the doorway, and then made his way out of his quarters.

Ta'ryn reached his arms up above his head as soon as he shut the door and felt all his tension melt away. Being cooped up for a week with Bonnie had really weighed heavily on him. It's why he was so pumped when he walked into the nearest bar.

"Ta'ryn!" K'tan waved him over from a large booth table. The brown yautja with darker brown stripes and amber eyes was openly smiling as he waved the berserker over. "About time!"

"We started without you." Vator sneered up from the seat against the wall. The green predator lifted his tankard up to punctuate the point, and then brought the dipped lip to his mouth. It had a spout like shape to reach between his mandibles without having to part them.

"Vator started without all of us." Iru'tu sat to Vator's left and shook his grumbling friend's shoulder. The rusty orange yautja with black stripes chuckled at the glare he got from his intoxicated friend. "Is your mate really stressing you out that much? I would have thought, with her timid disposition, and how long you've had with her, that you would have formed a strong bond with her by now?"

"Hn." Vator swigged his ale, simply nodding in greeting as yet another friend joined them.

"Sorry I'm late." Sargo sat on the left edge of the booth beside Iru'tu, and nodded across at Ta'ryn, sat on the right edge beside K'tan. Sargo's dark brown skin was much darker than K'tan's, and his eyes were a deep brown. His dreads were also auburn black, very rare. He ran a hand back through his dreads and sighed. "Toni is waring me out." The group shared a collective groan. "What?"

"You're not the only one who's worn out by their mate." Ta'ryn huffed and retrieved one of the tankards from the centre of the table. "Bonnie is sulking with me. She pretends to be too ill to leave her bed, but I know better."

"You think that's bad?" Sargo lifted the central pitcher and poured them both a drink. "Toni refuses to speak to me. All she will say is her name, her rank, and a bunch of numbers. She barely eats and drinks. She behaves like a war prisoner."

"Well mine won't stop crying." Iru'tu groaned, and took a swig of his drink. "Hetta just weeps, asks to leave, to see her friends, and screams if I get too close to her."

"Damn. That is bad." Ta'ryn nodded, his red tipped dreads swaying with the movement. "Bonnie has a mouth on her, but at least she's not a crier." Iru'tu hung his head over and groaned.

"How very supportive of you, thank you." He groaned.

"Oh stop complaining." Vator sneered, his green eyes misted over from drink. "At least your mates are being straight forward. Emma is _so_ unfair." He banged his tankard down. "She's perfectly happy to work next to me, and for an Ooman she's a brilliant geneticist. Damn it she's _perfect_ for me. In the lab she's already the best partner I could have hoped for. She's smart, skilled and so pauking cute." Vator held his head and pined. "But if I try to talk to her about anything but work, she clamps down. She doesn't say two words to me. She shudders if I touch her hand. She won't even look at me if I suggest anything…"

"Yeah I hear that." Iru'tu sighed and nodded in solidarity. "Hetta will _not_ let me touch her."

The group all sighed collectively and took a drink from their tankards.

"Oh dear. You all look very down." Kuruk stood at the end of the table and looked down at the sorry bunch. "I thought this was a friendly drink and destress? Not a pity party?"

"Hay?" K'tan pointed up at the pale white yautja. "Are you and that knife spitting harpy are on a love cloud?"  
"Oh, far from." Kuruk chuckled and sat at the end of the table, facing everyone. Ta'ryn poured him a drink and pushed it to wards him. "Thank you. And _no,_ my little r'ka tries to kill me at least 3 times a day." He clattered with mirth and sipped his ale. "Ahhh hits the spot." Kuruk cleared his throat and looked with icy eyes look around at their stunned faces. "…something I said?"

"Kill you? three times a day?" Vator gawked as he looked up from his half empty tankard.

"Yes." Kuruk chuckled and toasted his drink to the table. "You name it, she's tried to kill me with it. The kitchen knives are her favourite, but she's extended her arsenal to include all eating utensils and crockery, the arms of chairs, of course her bare hands, and her bedsheet. As both a noose and a bag to smother me." He smirked wickedly. "My deadly little r'ka bares her talons, but I'm wearing her down. She's keeping my skills sharp, at least."

"Wait?" Sargo rubbed his temples and then pointed at Kuruk. "So she's _always_ trying to kill you?"

"During the day, at least." Kuruk chuckled, making light of the situation. "I sleep safely as I lock all the doors at night and she doesn't appear to be technically savvy enough to hack them."

"Yet." Vator grumbled. "Emma figured out how to get out of her room after the first day. _Thankfully_ she's not brave enough to go wandering without me. And of course, _my_ bride is very smart."

"My r'ka is the smartest assassin I've ever seen. She is deadly as she is beautiful." Kuruk hummed and sipped his ale. "She will be worth the wait."

"What are you calling her?" K'tan blinked at him. "I thought her name was Nori-something?"

"Noriko? Yes, but r'ka is the name I gave her when we first met." He seemed lost in nostalgia for a moment. "We go _way_ back."

"Wait, so has _anyone_ here gotten _any_ closer to consummating the mating bond?" Vator barked across the table. "Anyone?"

No one spoke. K'tan didn't feel like telling them that he'd technically had sex with his bride, but not under the right conditions to make her his mate. "Well I guess I don't feel so bad anymore. Not now I know I'm not the only one with a mate that won't let me touch them." He chugged the rest of his ale and sighed.

"Hay, at least for the next couple of hours can we not talk about our mates?" Sargo offered to the group. "I didn't come here to be miserable. I can do that at home with Toni." He sniggered. "Let's talk have that de-stress and relaxation that Ta'ryn offered."

The black berserker lifted his head up and raised a brow at the combat specialist. _What did he just say?_

"Yes! This was a great idea." K'tan raised his tankard and sighed. "Time away from our pain in the ass mates. Time to drink, laugh and be in good company."

"I will drink to that!" Iru'tu added and also raised his tankard. In fact, they all lifted their drinks up as a toast. "To Ta'ryn, for coming up with the idea."

They toasted him, drank and sighed. The only one who hadn't joined in, was Ta'ryn himself. He blinked his amber eyes at them and felt something cold knot in is stomach. For a moment he listened to them cheer and start talking of upcoming hunts. "To think I almost kept a training session I booked instead of accepting your invitation." Iru'tu took a well needed swig of ale.

Ta'ryn pushed his drink away from him and held his hands up.

"...I...didn't invite you." they all stopped their trilling laughter and chat to stare at him. the serious expression on his face alone got their undivided attention. "I thought you invited _me_?"

"What are you talking about?" K'tan joined in. "You emailed me yesterday to incite me out to drink with everyone."

"Yeah I have the same email." Sargo added. The group all reached this consensus. Ta'ryn shook his head. "No need to be modest."

"I'm not being modest. I didn't send any invitation." He ground.

"But if you didn't invite us…" K'tan started.

"Then who did?" Iru'tu finished.

"Oh pauk." Vator sat back and ran a hand back through his black dreads. "If we're all _here_ , and none of _us_ planned this, then right now none of us have eyes on our mates."

Everyone stood quickly and Kuruk even turned to leave.

"Wait!" K'tan yelled, halting them all. "Hang on. That's not true."

"What?" Vator leaned with his hands on the table like he was about to scramble over it. "I don't have time for this. Emma wouldn't plan this, but she's smart enough to make it succeed. If they get to Emma, then they'll be really hard to find."

"One? We aren't all here. Kantanu isn't here." K'tan growled, demanding their attention. "That means that he's got eyes on Eve. Two- Alice is going _no where_ without her sister."

"Neither will Toni." Sargo added. "When I first dragged her home she went on for hours about needing to find and protect her from…" the dark brown yautja cut himself off. Everyone knew that K'tan was cousins with Kantanu. It wouldn't be wise to call him 'that abomination'.

"Wait, no this is good." Ta'ryn joined the frantic discussion. "Bonnie is always asking about her friends. All of them. So if they won't leave without Eve, then they are all going to her before they try to do whatever stupid escape plan they've got cooked up." He didn't voice it...but Ta'ryn had his suspicions who the 'ring leader' might be...

"Then we have nothing to worry about." K'tan nodded, visibly relaxing. "If they go after Eve, then they will face Kantanu. And he'll Kick their ass." K'tan chuckled…and then spread his mandibles with horror. "Oh C'jit! He's going to kick their ass!"

K'tan vaulted over the table, barely sliding between Ta'ryn and Kuruk, and all of the hunters ran urgently after him. K'tan led the way, knowing where his cousin was staying, and praying to the Gods they got there before the ladies did. They probably looked quite the alarming site, six of the most elite hunters running at full pelt through the mothership corridors.

"K'TAN! IF YOUR COUSIN HURTS MY BONNIE, I'LL TEAR HIS PAUKING TAIL OFF!"

"TA'RYN?" K'tan roared over his shoulder, but didn't stop running. "HE WOULD WELCOME YOU TO TRY IT!" He groaned. "I'M MORE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING THERE AND FINDING EVE GONE. THEN KANTANU KICK _ALL_ OUR ARSES!"


	17. RUN!

Bonnie waited five minutes after Ta'ryn left, and then leapt out of bed. She cackled and ran over to the wardrobe. She changed into brown leather shorts, halter neck top with bronze breast plates and pulled a matching chainmail vest over the top. She tied her hair back, braids and all, and swiped the tablet on her way out. _Ok back through the history of the clan pages. The commission of the A'nok mothership…_ She walked into the kitchen and stuck some jerky in her mouth. _A ha! Map of the ship. Gotcha!_ She swallowed the jerky and headed out. She smirked and pressed the door release. _Stupid fucker didn't even lock the door. What a mook!_

Bonnie walked out, looked at the map she'd practically burned into her brain, and turned left. _Oh I'm so good sometimes it hurts._ Bonnie grinned, keeping her head down as she looked at the screen, and also to appear subservient to the yautja she walked past. They didn't bat an eye at her. For all intents and purposes, Bonnie appeared to be dressed like she was on her way to a training session, and using the tablet to find her way to her mate. No one stopped her. No one suspected a thing…

It was so hard not to grin her ass off.

She followed the map to the med labs, where Ta'ryn said Emma was when she wasn't at home. Bonnie braced herself and peered inside. There were many office stations there and most were empty. Bonnie saw one yautja at the back running some tests, but then she spotted the perky little lab rat herself. Emma, dressed in a soft yellow chiffon wrap around skirt and breast wrap, was peering down a microscope. Her brown hair tied up into a high ponytail, and sandals on her feet to match Bonnie's.

"Pst." Bonnie whispered in vain. "Psssst." She tried again, a touch louder, and sent a silent prayer of thanks when Emma looked up from her slide. Those hazel eyes drifted over to the doorway and opened wide with her mouth when she saw Bonnie. The bounty hunter lifted a finger to her lips, silencing the doctor. She then waved her to come over.

Emma peered back over her shoulder at the other yautja scientist at the back of the lab. His back was to them, and he seemed fully engrossed in what he was doing. As silently as she could and bolt stiff, Emma took one side step at a time towards the door. As soon as she reached her, Bonnie took hold of her bicep and walked them both down the corridor. "Good to see you in one piece buttercup."

"Bonnie!" Emma opened her arms to hug her, but Bonnie thrust the tablet at her instead. "Wh-what are you doing here? Have you and Ta'ryn-"

"Not on your life." Bonnie cut her off, leading her by the hand. "See the map there?" Bonnie pulled them into an empty patient room and kept a look out as she spoke to Emma. "That's the map of the ship. I used it to find the med labs. We just need to pick up the others and sneak into the docks."  
"Wha-are you _out_ of your mind?!" Emma yanked Bonnie's arm and pulled her into the room with her. "You want to try and escape?"

"SHhhhhh." Bonnie waved her hand. "Whisper. Keep that shit from being overheard." She craned her head to look out the doorway again. Once she was sure no one was there, she chuckled back at Emma. "Look, I've been in this situation before. I once snuck into a trafficking complex to collect the bounty on a particularly nasty Coyote. I pretended to be one of the girls to get in."

"You _what?_ Are you crazy?" Emma squeaked.

"Obviously." Bonnie snorted and grinned with pride. "No one get's between me and a bounty. I dressed the part, put myself where they abducted girls and before I knew it I was in. That was easy. Getting out was the hard part."

"…I can imagine?" Emma blinked and reaffirmed her opinion that Bonnie was not only a kick ass bounty hunter, but a little bit scary too. She was one hell of a daredevil. She then cleared her throat and raised a brow at Bonnie. "As fascinating a story as that was? What does that have to do with-"

"Listen." Bonnie turned and pointed at the stunned doctor. "We've in this position because we're skilled enough to be noticed. But we're stuck here, because we don't have a chance in hell of taking out our mates one on one." Emma gulped. She was right there. "They are bigger, stronger, and it's their home turf." Bonnie started counting off her fingers, still whispering. "They literally picked us up and dragged us to their fucking man-caves, _after_ smacking the shit out of us on that jungle planet." Emma looked off to one side. Technically she and Vator never fought, but then again the river ghost actually wanted to kill her, so it wasn't necessarily a better difference… "Think about what our chances are in a fight? I'm scrappy as fuck, Toni is military, Noriko is an assassin, and Alice is practically as big and as strong as them. If we didn't stand a chance alone, none of us do. Pissing and moaning gets us nowhere." Bonnie nodded, turning to look out the doorway again. "Our fists don't work against these guys. What we do have and what can work? Is our heads."

"Okay I follow you. Brain over brawn."

"Abso-fucking-lutely." Bonnie licked her teeth loudly. "I got out of the all-you-can-whore-house by using my brain. I watched, I learned, and I played the mark. I blended in and made myself invisible. Swiped one of their phones. Made all the top players think there was a meeting and got them away from the girls. We got out, and I got paid." Bonnie winked at her.

"Wait, so you think we're doing the same thing now?" Emma gawked. "How is this the same? For a start, how do you even know all the men are away?" Emma felt her pulse quicken. She felt danger lurking in Bonnie's blue eyes.

"Because I fucking invited them all." Bonnie sniggered quickly, highly amused with herself, and waved her hand over her shoulder. "Ta'ryn is so fucking gullible. He thought I was sulking, but I've been pumping that idiot for intel all week." She looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "How do you think I knew you were in the med lab?"

"…ok you're scarily good at this. How exactly did you get them all together, and away from the rest of us?" Emma pressed. She still didn't have much confidence in this plan.

"A few days back he came to 'chat' with his down in the dumps wifeling. Pfft." She sneered. "He brought his tablet and tried to read some shitty pamphlet to me, so I took the tablet and said I wanted to read it myself!" Bonnie practically overflowed with glee. "I got him to unlock the translator on his tablet." Bonnie cackled with her mouth shook. She was _very_ pleased with herself. " _Idiot_ has a shortcut to his email on there? I got in and emailed all the 'hubbies'. They're all converging on a local bar I found on the map to drink and have fun. As we speak! They're going to stagger home, pissed, to find our beds empty. Now lets hurry up. I needed you and that super brain of yours first." Emma nodded, feeling Bonnie's confidence seeping into her.

"Ok, right, so where to next?"

"That's the spirit. The email accounts had accommodation tags on them. So _very_ helpful of our captors to make it _that_ easy to locate them. (snigger) I've flagged them on the map." Bonnie pointed to the tablet and then side stepped out of the room. "Coast is clear. Come on. Hetta is next."

"R-right." Emma followed the alpha female and noted how Bonnie lowered her head as she walked along the edge of the corridor. "I have the map. I-well-should take lead."

"Go for it buttercup."

Emma took a deep breath, her heart racing, and she resisted the urge to tremble with fear. Bonnie seemed to know what she was doing. So Emma would trust her. _If there's a chance we can escape we have to take it. I've been here a week now. So far I'm not ovulating, but any day that could change. Any day now Vator might act on his promise to 'copulate over the three days of human ovulation'._ Emma started to lead them both down various passages, as per the map's instructions. _If this works I'll be at home with precious twinkie bars and my fluffy desk toys in no time. if this doesn't work…_

"Vator is going to be so mad with me."

"He's going to be a speck in our rear view. Now hurry up." Emma nodded, and they both kept their heads down. She followed the map and turned right.

* * *

The door opened and Hetta walked out of her bedroom. _He's back already? I thought Iru'tu said I'd be alone for a few-_

"Bonnie! Emma!" the tall blonde ran towards them with her arms open wide. "Oh I thought I'd never see you again!" Her bright blue eyes started to well with tears. They stood out even more, with the blue wrap around skirt and halter neck top she wore. White teeth and silver disks hung from many cords across her skirt as an accessory. "Oh I've missed you both so much."

"Can it lofty." Bonnie was very conscious of time. She took hold of Hetta's wrist and lead her out the apartment. "We can do the hugging thing later. We're blowing this joint. Head down."

"W-we are? Oh danke Gott." Hetta sighed happily, and followed Bonnie as she followed Emma. "I've been praying so hard for this."

"Shhh." Bonnie smiled over her shoulder at her with a confident grin. "You can owe me a drink later. Now head down, and quiet."

"Hurry up."

"I'm going as fast as I can Bonnie."

"But any second a crab man is going to walk around the corner and see you fucking with the door panel." Bonnie sang through a smile quietly, as she and Hetta shielded Bonnie from view.

"…that's not helping." Emma gulped, her hands in the door panel and trying not to electrocute herself as she found the disconnect wire. "I wish I had some tools."

"How about this?" Hetta pulled a hair pin from her blonde hair, it falling down to showing she had a scraggly bob now. Bonnie frowned when she saw this. Time had certainly passed since they were first brought together in Jenkin's office. Hetta's hair had been super short when they first met.

"Perfect! Gimme!" Emma swiped the hair pin and lodged it into the den of wires. "Just need to detach it from the main hub." She spoke to herself. "Almost...got it."

The door opened and all three women leaned over comically in the doorway to look into the room.

"About fucking time!" Noriko hissed from the sofa and marched out of the quarters. "A whole week I've had to deal with that Oni's bullshit. I assume there's a plan in place?"

"Kinda." Bonnie chuckled and looked down the deadly assassin's attire. "Really?"

"Oh don't get me started." Noriko wore a beautiful white kimono, with a lilac obi and matching haori.

"Wait, that's Japanese." Hetta pointed at Noriko, who brought up the rear in their escape line. "Why is your mate dressing you up in earth clothing?"

"Long fucking story I'd prefer to forget. Can we _go_ now?" Her raven hair had grown past her shoulders, and hung sleek around her sharp face. "Jibun no jikan de." Noriko hissed to herself as they finally left.

The procession walked through the corridor and turned left.

"Who's next?" Bonnie pressed, no longer having the tablet to check herself.

"Toni." Emma turned another left and then looked around them. "Here."

"Oh shit, great, get her." Bonnie nodded eagerly. Again the door was locked. "I think I'm going to pass out if we keep hitting locked doors." She absently thanked the cartels for not being as stringent with locking their doors back on Earth. At least those doors were mainly rickety and with a strong enough boot or axe you could get through them. These things were made of solid metal, thick and impenetrable. If Emma hadn't figured out how to bypass the controls, they would have had a very short escape attempt.

"You're telling me?" Emma stammered as she used Hetta's hair pin to pry the panel off the door. "How long do we have exactly?"

"If no one catches on? 2 or so hours." Bonnie shrugged.

"And if they do?" Hetta's voice wobbled.

"…who fucking knows. Emma? Hurry this up will you?" The bounty hunter could feel the wave of anxiety coming off the other women. They needed to get this escape train back on the tracks.

"OOoooohhh I'm going as fast as I can!" Emma whined, but there was a happy flutter in her heart. It was good to be with her friends again. Even if it was in another life or death situation. "Oh, this is much easier with a tool."

The door opened and Toni leapt out with a kitchen knife. Thankfully no one had moved yet, or the ex spec-ops soldier might have run them through. Toni skidded to a stop against the far wall and turned to look at her friends like she'd seen a ghost.

"Hi there." Bonnie waved, and then waved her over.

"Holy-what are you doing here? I thought-Oh thank God." Toni smiled and held her own cheek as she looked to the stunned gang. "I thought it was Sargo."  
"We can see that. Now chuck the knife back in crazy lady. We need to _not_ draw attention." Bonnie nodded eagerly at her and shooed Toni into action with both hands. "Follow Noriko. Hurry. Emma? Onward. Time is not our friend."

"How we haven't been noticed already I don't know." Emma was getting nauseous she was so nervous.

"It's alright. Heads down, keep moving." By the time the line passed Toni she'd thrown the kitchen knife haphazardly back into the apartment, and followed them in a flare of her raven hair and billowing green chiffon hanging skirt. The wrap around breast strap as barely keeping her contained, and she was not happy about having her thighs on show either. None of this she voiced now, as the only thing she focused on was falling into line and escaping with the others.

"So we are only missing Alice and Eve now, right?" Hetta spoke over Bonnie's shoulder.

"Oh yeah. Then we hit the docks and leave these freaks in our dust."

* * *

Alice was laid on her bed, throwing knives up at the ceiling. She was seething and clicking in her throat. _K'tan gets to go to out and socialise. I get to sit alone on my bed. He gets to see his friends. A whole week has passed, and they could be dead for all I know. Oh Eve. You don't even reply to my thoughts anymore. Are you ok?_

Alice threw her last knife and sobbed. Her amber eyes welled up with tears and she held her face. _K'tan doesn't understand how much I need you. All of you. I want to be happy with him, but how can I? When I'm so powerless to protect you?_

"Oi! Alice? Get out of wonderland and get your spotty ass over here!"

 _Great. Now I'm imagining things. I'm so desperate to see my friends I can almost hear Bonnie._ "Shit, what if she's not here?"

"Vator said she was under house arrest like the rest of you." _Oh, and Emma too._

"Well shit. We came, she's not here, times is of the essence. We tried. Now legs fucking _go_ already." _Wait a minute?! Noriko?_ There was no _way_ she'd imagine hearing _that_ little cretin. Not after she let Emma go to her death on the jungle planet. Alice slid off the bed, her deep tanned skin and dark spots were complimented by her brown shorts and wrap around halter neck top. Her long dreads were tied back into a low ponytail, and she walked out of her bedroom to see what had to be a hallucination.

"…Bonnie…Emma? Hetta!? Toni! E-even Noriko?!" She ran at them and lifted Bonnie and Emma, the closest two, up off the feet in each arm. "Oh my dear friends! You all came to see me?" Her smile was so wide her four sharp canines could be seen.

"We all came to break your ass out of this cage. Now put us down." Bonnie laughed as Alice returned them to their feet.

"What do you mean?" Alice pulled Emma into a hug, having last seen her before she walked away from them on the jungle planet. K'tan was the one who told her Emma was ok. But it still hurt. She'd not be letting Emma out of her sight for a while.

"We-" Emma looked up and began to explain.

"We don't have much time." Toni stressed and took hold of Alice's hand. She pulled the confused hybrid towards the door, and Alice kept her other hand firmly wrapped around one of Emma's wrists. "Eve was dragged off and her mind invaded by a terrible creature. I've had nightmares about it. I tried to keep her safe, but I was no match for it Alice. I'm so sorry."

"…what?" Alice gasped. "K'tan said his cousin was the one to claim Eve as his mate, and that they are well matched. He never said he invaded her mind." Then Alice snarled. "That's why she hasn't reached out to me. Because he's in her head. Did he hurt her?"

"I've _never_ seen anyone in so much pain." Toni riled the hybrid up, sharing her rage. "Eve passed out from it. He never even let her try to defend herself."

"Dishonour!" Alice shook her fists, careful not to crush poor Emma's hand in the process. "Take me to my sister!"

"That's the plan she-hulk." Bonnie slowly waved her hands to calm Alice down. If she went into rage mode they'd never sneak through the ship unhindered. "Now, you lead the way with Emma. You look more convincing than the rest of us. With good reason…just be calm." Bonnie guided them all out of the apartment. "We can't afford to gain any attention. We'll get Eve, go to the docks, grab and ship, and then fly out of here."

"I…I want to get all of you out of here if that's what you want, and I want to save my sister." Alice held Emma's free hand in both of hers as they walked together. She frowned, feeling conflicted. "…but I don't want to leave _myself_. If you were all happy, then I…could let myself be happy with K'tan. I could have a real life here."

"Noted." Bonnie pointed up at her. "Let's save your sister and then argue about that bullshit at the docks, ok?" Alice chuckled and walked ahead with Emma, who was shaking she was that nervous. Alice patted her hand and cooed at her.

"I will get you to safety Emma. Don't be afraid."

"Th-thanks." The doctor stammered. "Your door lock took so long to break. Any second our masters could realise what we're doing." Emma topped at a junction, looked though her tear foggy vision at the tablet, and turned right. The procession followed her accordingly. "I'm so freaking scared I could pass out. Maybe even vomit a little?"

"I have you Emma. I will catch you if you faint."

"Thanks." Emma giggled. "But if I pass out, we're _all_ in trouble. I'm the only one who knows how to hack the locks, and I'd wager I'm the one who a shred of a chance of figuring out how to fly an alien space ship…so…I need to _not_ faint. Or barf."

"And be quiet about it!" Bonnie hissed just above a whisper. Two yautja in deep conversation walked past them, and turned their eyes over the large group of women, but one look at Alice at the front and they seemed to return to their own conversation. They never slowed their step or seemed perturbed by what they saw. "Too fucking close. Hurry up!"

* * *

"Right, break this lock and let's get moving. We _really_ need to get moving." Bonnie felt the claws of time closing in around them. They'd taken far longer to collect everyone than she would have liked. Especially with the unknown of how long their 'mates' would take to figure out they'd been duped. "I didn't think it would take 20 minutes."

"Oh God it feels like it's been 20 hours." Emma went into autopilot and started to pry the door panel open with the mangled hair pin. "Hang on? This one isn't locked."

"Excellent." Bonnie grinned, happy for the good news. "Open says me!"

"Right." Emma nodded and pressed the control button.

Fht.

The door opened and Eve was sat on the edge of the bed. She wore a green wrap around skirt and left sleeve only shirt, that clung to her shoulder and supported her bust firmly. She was sat on the bed, her head hanging forward and her tail drooping to the flour around her feet. The moment the door opened she snapped her head up, her fathomless black eyes wide and her raven hair swaying back. Many of the escape party opened the mouths to greet her, but Eve stood and waved her hands frantically. The look of panic and how pale the usually pale girl turned made their hearts collectively leap into their mouths. Even without pupils, you could see the look of horror in those onyx eyes.

The sound of a running shower could be heard. Eve pointed to the bathroom and mouthed 'in there'.

 _Oh shit._ Bonnie gulped and could hear her own breathing, everyone was so deathly quiet. Even Noriko was tense. Bonnie looked up at Alice, who was the only one who seemed to be contemplating going in there. She even took a step forward, but stopped when Eve flung her arms around. 'Stop'. She mimed at them.

'come here.' Bonnie mimed back and beckoned her with her hands. 'come on'.

Eve looked towards the bathroom, the water still rushing down in the shower loudly. Trembling worse than Emma was a moment ago, Eve lifted her tail up of the ground, holding it below the spear end, and tip toed over to the doorway. _That's it Eve. Steady now._ Bonnie wasn't the only one silently waving her over. The whole gang practically had at least one hand going to encourage her. Even Noriko! Beckoning like you would a frightened child you were trying to rescue from the monster's lair.

 **"** **Eve?"** They all bolted stiff as Kantanu called out from the bathroom.

 _Fuck this!_ Bonnie stepped into the apartment, took hold of Eve's wrist and bolted with her in tow. The entire gang of women ran down the corridor after them, and turned left out of sight. They stopped, panting and took a moment to let their hearts return to their chests.

"Oh Eve!" Alice wrapped her arms around her sister. "I've missed you so-"

"You have no idea what you've just done." Eve was trembling and clung to Alice's arms. She was so scared she swayed, her knees buckling. Alice had to lift her up into her arms. "What he's going to do to me when he catches me. Oh Alice. You have no idea what he does to my head."

"He's not catching us." Toni ground, angry at Eve's mistreatment. "Alice? Carry her. Emma? Take point." She pushed Emma to the front of the line. "We have until big dark and scary walks out of the bathroom and finds her gone. Now _move_."

"I second that shit." Bonnie also urged them to get moving again. "The others might be occupied, but Mr scary pants back there will notice the second he comes out to dry his ass. We need to get going."

"Oh I'm going to barf." Emma swallowed some bile and took off at a fast stride, trying to focus on the tablet and getting her friends safely away from danger. Alice held Eve behind her, then Bonnie and Toni followed, with Noriko and Hetta bringing up the rear.

The most harrowing roar thundered down the halls, making them, and the girls, all shudder and forget to breathe.

"Kantanu." Eve pressed her hands to her temples. "He's coming! He-he's so angry!"

"Okay." Bonnie sang, putting her hands on Alice's back to push her forward. "He noticed we bitch napped Eve. Fucking run! Now ladies!"

"Chikushō!" Noriko took hold of the skirt of her kimono with both hands and sprint with the rest of them.


	18. Herded together

Emma was panting. She was running and couldn't believe how few yautja they were passing in the corridors. Some shouted to them to stop, some even reached for them, but the women all managed to duck, weave and block their attempts. Yet that wasn't even their biggest problem.

No, having the passers by realise they were an escape party, was _not_ their biggest issue.

 **"** **EVE!"**

"He's getting closer!" Eve held her head and trembled in Alice's arms.

"How close are we to the docks?!" Alice snapped her head up at Emma, who practically collided with the adjacent door.

"We're here!" Emma pressed the door release. "Not locked! Yes!"

"Thank God!" Bonnie and Toni waved the rest of the group inside. "Emma, lock the door behind us." The bounty hunter shoved Toni inside, and then backed into the hanger bay as well. She grimaced as she saw the dark lord himself stalk into the corridor and set his mismatched red and green eyes on her. That intense look, the sway of his black skeletal tail, and the slow and determined way he walked towards them gave Bonnie the creeps. "Oh shit. _Now_ Emma!" Bonnie held her fists up, backing further into the room. Her back bumped up against Alice's back, and she turned with a flustered wince. "Emma? Come on. Lock the door so we can boost a…"

Bonnie turned around and saw why everyone had frozen still and silent. Stood in a row between the girls and the shuttles, were _all_ their mates.

"… _shit."_ Bonnie did a half turn, turning her head from their pissed off mates, to Kantanu's stalking figure as he entered the docks as well. His tail flicked out behind him to lock the door and he folded his arms over his chest. He covered the only exit. There would be no escape.

"Thank you for herding them straight here." K'tan bowed his head to the engineered nightmare, who simply nodded in response.

"H-herded?!" Alice snapped her head back at Kantanu, and then to Eve. "Oh _pauk._ He used Eve to scare us into running straight here!"

"I didn't know! I swear I didn't." Eve held her arms around Alice's neck and clung to her. "I promise I didn't know."

"We believe you." Toni reached up and touched her quivering shoulder.

"Well shit." Bonnie looked around with her bright blue eyes and tried to pull another plan out of her ass. They were technically evenly matched, but that wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. The yautja were individually still bigger, stronger, and deadlier in combat than ten pissed off Bonnie's. That's why she'd bided her time in the first place. _I wasn't expecting them to out think me. Damn it._ Bonnie looked over her shoulder at Kantanu. He was leisurely reclined against the locked door. Effectively preventing any hope of escaping the docks. The blueprint of the mothership showed only one entrance, and that was it. _No wonder he didn't catch up to us and play finger paints with our insides. He knew where we were going and knew he'd trap us._ Bonnie looked to the line of pissed off mates and grimaced. _Bollocks!_

"Are you out of your _pauking minds?!"_ K'tan bellowed, startling them all from their internal meltdowns. His voice echoing around the hanger bay. Now they were safe, his bubbling rage was going to be shared out in equal measure. If Kantanu hadn't called him on his wrist bracer to redirect them straight here, they might have missed the women entirely. It didn't bare thinking about what state they would have been in otherwise. Dead, likely.

Thankfully they got here first managed to clear the docks before the women arrived. Being the grandson of an Arbitrator gave him enough sway for that at least. "Did you _really_ think you'd be _capable_ of flying one of our ships? To go where? We're not even in your system anymore. Hell, the anti-theft sabotage protocols we have would have disintegrated you before you even got out of _this_ system." K'tan's mandibles flared as he aimed his rage mostly at Alice. "I kind of expected this from _them."_ He waved a hand dismissively across the line of Oomans. "But not _you_."

"I also didn't think _you_ were _that stupid_." Vator barked at Emma, joining in the rant with his fists shaking by his sides. Emma was trembling and dropped the tablet with a clang at being addressed. Vator bore into her with such venom in his green eyes. "I bet you thought _you_ would be able to fly the ship, right? You can bypass a lock, and that means you can fly a ship? _Really?_ Dear Gods, was this _your_ idea?" Emma's hazel eyes overflowed with tears and she breathing was choppy. "Well?" He roared.

"N-n-no." Emma stammered with fear and held her elbows. "N-no I-"

"It was my idea!" Bonnie moved to stand in front of Emma like a living shield. "So back the hell off!"

"Of course it was." Ta'ryn pinched his nose and groaned. He shook his head, his red tipped dreads swaying. "I damn well _knew_ you weren't still ill. I thought you were sulking." He groaned with exasperation. "Damn it Bonnie. We were talking. I thought we were making progress, and all this time you were just faking it. How did you even pull this off?" He flung his hand from his head and shook his head at her. "If I wasn't so pissed with you, I'd be impressed."

"Enough of this." Iru'tu made an x with his arms and then flung them apart, having had enough. "Hetta? We are going home. And then we are going to talk at length about why you would risk your _life,_ _rather_ than talk to me about what's upsetting you." Iru'tu brought his hands to his tiger striped chest. "I can't help you feel better if you don't talk to me." He groaned, seeing her tall beautiful mate was already crying and averted her gaze from him. "Will you just stop crying and talk to me!"

"Well this was all very amusing." Kuruk chuckled and broke formation, walking towards Noriko, who hadn't taken her sharp brown eyes off him from the moment she walked into the hanger bay. "But Iru'tu is right. Enough is enough."

"Baka." Noriko lifted her fists and braced herself. "Keep your hands to yourself Oni." Kuruk simply trilled, amused by her bravado, and raised his guard as well.

"Back off." Toni came to Noriko's side and caused Kuruk to pause.

"Oh for the love of the Gods." Sargo stormed forward. "It's like you _want_ to get your ass kicked?! This is not a fair fight for you Toni. There is no honour in this. Let us go home and talk this through."

"Screw you hijo de puta!"

K'tan saw how the others weren't getting anywhere, and looked over behind them at his cousin. Kantanu stood like a spectre by the door. He seemed content to watch…for now… But that wouldn't last for much longer.

"Alice?" K'tan held his hands up and tried to look submissive as he approached her. "I'm not going to pretend I'm not upset with you. I am." He tried to keep his tone even, but his hurt was clear. "But you can see your plan has failed. Now put your sister down, let's go home, and we can work this out there. For as long as it needs." Alice held her sister tighter. K'tan darted his amber eyes over to Kantanu, who seemed to tense. He cleared his throat and felt the rising flutter of worry in his gut. The last thing he needed was for Kantanu to decide he'd had enough, march over, fling Alice against the wall and take Eve. "I'm trying to keep you safe. You have no idea what danger you're in right now."

"Because I'm holding my sister?" Alice looked at him like he'd betrayed her. "Because your cousin might _attack_ me to get her back? You lied to me." Alice snarled.

"What? I've never lied to you." K'tan scrunched his brow and clicked his mandibles.

"You told me your cousin was a good match for Eve." She swallowed the urge to sob, too angry to cry. "That they would be happy together." Alice sniffed, holding her cowering sister to her chest. "Does she _look_ happy?" K'tan regarded Eve for a moment, curled up and cowering. "Do _any_ of them look happy?"

All the yautja stopped and looked to their mates intently. "Emma has been so scared this whole time she's felt like she's going to constantly throw up. Eve is being _mind raped_." Kantanu took a step forward and clenched his fists. "I'm held in cage, even though I've agreed to be you're mate once I know my friends are safe. Noriko is dressed up like a pet. Hetta was terrified when she thought we were Iru'tu come home early. Toni launched out the door with a knife for fear we were Sargo. Bonnie put this whole thing together out of desperation! And they're all being forced to be brides when they never wanted to be! Being worthy is not the same thing as being willing!" She roared and bore her fangs at K'tan.

"Here fucking here." Bonnie rallied next to Alice. Hetta threw her fists down and cried out.

"Who gave you the right to decide we were _worthy_ to breed with? We have lives! You took them!"

Hetta and Emma were crying. Noriko hyper focused with her guard up on Kuruk. All of them looked to be holding desperately to their last nerve. Eve was curled up in her sister's arms, trembling and waiting for the inevitable moment when her mind wold be taken once more.

"You want to know why we would do this?" Bonnie opened her arms wide. "Because we didn't choose this. You might have sighed up for this, but we didn't. Why do _you_ get to have a choice, and we don't?"

"We don't either!"

You could have heard a pin drop. "We have as much choice in the matter as you do." Iru'tu snarled.

"What are you doing?" Ta'ryn put his hand on the tiger striped yautja. "Shut your mouth."

"We all agreed to keep that to ourselves." Sargo ground and turned his back to the women to chide Iru'tu. "We _all_ agreed."

"You agreed what?" Toni demanded, getting the dark brown yautja to turn and face her. "What do you mean you don't have a choice either?"

"We-"

K'tan growled at Sargo, making him purse his mandibles together and stop talking.

"Hay!" Alice snarled, contemplating booting K'tan. "What the pauk are you hiding from me now?" K'tan groaned and turned his back to her. "Hay?"

"Cut the bullshit." Bonnie shot up and pointed at Ta'ryn. "What's going on? Why would peppy over there say you have no choice either? I'm going to start swinging in a minute. So you better tell me what the _fuck_ he meant." Ta'ryn folded his arms and peered down at her with cold yellow eyes.

"Because _you've_ been so _open_ with me?" He sneered. "I owe you _nothing."_

"That's it!" Alice lunched forward to attack him, but Hetta yanked her back in a bear hug.

"You might as well tell them now." Kuruk peered his icy eyes to one side and shrugged at the others. "They care not that we've gone out of our way this week to make them feel wanted or doted on. So why not tell them?"

"Tell us _what_?!" Noriko screeched angrily. Still they remained silent.

 **"** **Tell them or I will."** Kantanu spoke coolly and with a sibilant hiss at the edges. **"And I'll be less 'nice' about it."**

"Ah C'jit." Vator grimaced and put his fists on his hips. "Fine. There's no way in hell _you're_ telling them." He glanced to his left at his fellow yautja and sighed. "I'll tell them. I'm the bloody geneticist anyway."

"…tell us what?" Emma whispered, almost thinking she hadn't spoken at all.

"We were all entered into the bride trails, without having a choice. Genetic lottery. We were chosen. We didn't choose to enter. We're just as 'without choice' as you all were."

"…the fuck?" Bonnie ran a hand back through her hair, pulling the bobble free and scratching the back of her head. "No? Bullshit. There's no way."

"We wanted you to _feel_ wanted. So we all agreed to say we chose you and decided to enter because we were so enamoured with you." Ta'ryn folded his arms and clicked his mandibles to one side. "We thought it would be… _difficult enough_ for you to adjust without thinking you'd been sorted by your genetic profiles and none of your own merits."

"We thought you'd feel unwanted." Iru'tu shocked them all by closing the distance between him and Hetta. He took one of her hands and pressed it to his chest. "We were all entered by the repopulation initiative. We can't refuse."

"But…then…that means…" Hetta's blue eyes opened as she looked up at Iru'tu in a new light. "…you're in the same position as we are. You didn't want mates either."

Vator looked at the way Hetta allowed Iru'tu to hold her hand to his chest and grumbled with jealously.

"Don't you think if we had _any_ other option than to look outside of our species, that we would have done that? Do you think _any_ of us wouldn't prefer to have what our ancestors did? Yautja women, who chose us, _wanted_ to be with us and for our race to _not_ be _so close_ to extinction, we _had_ to start selecting females from a race we _hunted_?" Emma opened her mouth, and Vator cut her off. "Cloning is not an option. Short term you could bolster numbers, but in the long term genetic diseases and inbreeding would wipe us out. We need fresh DNA. And more than that? What honour is there for growing a person in a tank? Not that we didn't explore that avenue. Emma? How many dead and defective embryos and foetuses have you helped me examine this last week?"

"…so many…" Emma turned her sad hazel eyes to look to her friends, and she nodded to them. "…so few female yautja of breeding age are left. And most of those have low fertility, or their reproductive organs have been…disformed from the virus."

"We have no other option." Sargo sighed. "It used to be rare, but enough Oomans have become honoured prey, that there was research done into hybridisation. Your species can _carry_ our children to term. _Hell_ , even the Oomans have played their hand at it." He thrust his hand towards Alice and Eve.

"We were made in a tank." Eve lifted her head up and spoke softly. "Why can't you make your own hybrids? Like Jenkins made us?"

"Because we don't want to 'make our own hybrids'." Ta'ryn snarled, losing his patience. "You're missing the point. We need offspring, true. We need Ooman females to do it, but we regard our mates as sharing practically sacred bonds. Our society holds women as our leaders outside of hunting matters. We honour and revere our women." He huffed. "It goes against everything we stand for to simply 'make' genetically engineered offspring. With no honour or the love of the mother bond. We need mates to breed with, but we need _mothers_ too."

"Our honour code demands that we cannot take advantage of lesser females. So the bride trials came into being to allow us to find worthy brides, who would make suitable mates _and_ mothers do the children they would bare. So our honour can remain untarnished." Kuruk nodded.

"What the fuck?" Bonnie stepped forward and opened her arms wide with her friends behind her. "Hello? How is your honour intact? We were _taken_ against our will. Lesser females from a species you hunt? Hello?"

"You are not lesser females." Ta'ryn stormed forward, just out of arm's reach from Bonnie. "You have proven your worth and passed the bride trials. It's a two way street. _We_ had to prove _our_ worth as well. To deserve you. To be worthy of you."

"Question?" Toni spoke up, glaring at Sargo. "Why are you guys so special to be 'chosen' in the first case? Why you?"

 **"** **If you would take a moment to** ** _look_** **at your mates, you would know why."** Kantanu sighed, seemingly bored. **"Look carefully. Does anything stand out about them to you?"**

"Cousin? They don't need to know the specifics." K'tan tried. Oh he tried.

"What's so special about them?" Bonnie surprised them all by turning on her heels and marching towards Kantanu. "You seem to be the most forthcoming one here. Tell me." He chuckled darkly and nodded towards the other yautja.

 **"** **Use your eyes Ooman."** Ta'ryn took three drastic steps forward when Kantanu hissed and coiled his tail fluidly around Bonnie's legs.

"Oh shit!" She held onto the thick skeletal tail around her waist as she was lifted and turned to face the rest of the group. She seriously regretted turning her sass onto the Predalien hybrid. Everyone was tense, and Eve pushed herself to her feet like she thought about making a launch at Kantanu herself. "Erm, shit _fine_ I'm _looking_ already." Bonnie, and all the other women for that matter, looked at their 'mates' like it was the first time. "…anyone?"

 **"** **Putting their honour and rank aside, have you not noticed something different about your mates, compared to the rest of the clan?"**


	19. In the same boat

"Some of us haven't particularly been sight seeing or people watching since we got here." Bonne snapped, trying to wriggle her legs free and pull at his tail. Not a joy of luck there. Kantanu had her well and truly ensnared in his tail. _Serves me right for getting all up in his face I guess._

"No he's right." Emma waved her hand and looked down them all. "…genetic variation."

"Clever. I thought you'd figure it out eventually." Vator chuckled once, sadly, and folded his arms over his green chest. "We have rare characteristics. From the colour of our skin, to the efficiency of our nervous systems in reaction times, immunity, peak athleticism, you name it. White Yautja were rare _before_ the Ondrena virus. Most of them were female, and so were wiped out within a matter of weeks." Vator nodded towards Kuruk, who just shrugged. Noriko raised a brow, but didn't look impressed.

"Berserker class yautja like myself are very few to come by now. I also have genetic markers for some superior bone density something or other." Ta'ryn cleared his throat and pointed to Bonnie. "Could I just…get her back?" He did _not_ like her wrapped in in his tail like that. At first Kantanu didn't seem to process that he'd been spoken to. But slowly his tail lowered Bonnie to the ground. Once released, she shuddered all over and leapt back over to stand beside Alice. She didn't even care that Ta'ryn was stood right behind her.

"In short?" K'tan sighed. "All yautja of breeding age, of a blooded rank, capable of supporting a family, all have their genomes entered into a lottery. We were all entered into the bride trials based on our genes."

"So you…really didn't have choice either?" Hetta looked up, not flinching when Iru'tu finally smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"My colourations are incredibly rare. Orange with black stripes? My pigmentation is caused by a series of mutations. I'm an anomaly, so I'm told." He chuckled and pinched his mandibles into a smile. "But the doctors tell me that if I were to reproduce that I would pass this trait on. So as I'm the only one, I have to breed or this characteristic _will_ be lost from the population."

"So…the bride trails is more than just survival? It's genetic conservation?"

"Yes." He nodded and shook her shoulder. "We were all selected by the worth of our genes, against the criteria K'tan just spoke of, and entered."

"I was elbow deep in a river ghost when I got the message I was to return from the hunt to enter the trails." Kuruk chuckled.

"I was on Earth already." Sargo caught Toni's sceptical dark brown eyes. The dark brown Yautja edged closer to his Hispanic beauty. He had her attention at least. Something he'd failed to get this last week. "My colouration isn't particularly rare, but my dreads are." He pointed to his short auburn dreads. "The colour has something to do with the blood supply and the way my body processes certain minerals."

"You're under pressure to breed because of your _hair?"_ Toni blinked at him, not impressed. He clattered with laughter and shrugged.

"They're more like thick tendrils than hair like you have, but yeah." He chuckled.

"And you?" Alice folded her arms and sceptically looked at K'tan.

"I…have a higher resistance to extreme oxygen levels." K'tan cleared his throat put one hand on his hip, the other at the back of his head. "Useful if I'm on a planet with lower oxygen in the air than normal and I lost my mask for some reason. Or I remove it…for some reason." Alice blinked slowly. "Normally we can't breath for more than a few minutes without a ventilator or mask." Still she stared. "Remember when we _first_ met?"

Her cheeks burned and she realised what he was hinting at. "Yeah, although the application of being adaptable to other words for hunting with different oxygen concentrations has obvious advantages."

"M-yeah." Alice darted her amber eyes to the side, and saw how the others were all looking at her flushed face. "I remember."

Bonnie leaned in front of her, stared at the blush on the hybrid's face for a moment and then gasped. Cackled, getting everyone's attention.

"…Alice?" Bonnie poked her arm. "Did you bang this dude on the first date?"

"WH-what?" She yelped.

"Oh girl? Who'd have thought you were so easy!" Bonnie teased her, poking her arm with both hands, and Alice swatted her hands away cutely. "Standards Alice, standards!"

"I-I have standards!" Alice still blushed and shook a fist at Bonnie. What neither of them noticed was the way K'tan and Ta'ryn were whispering about how cute they both looked. "I made him chase me across a city and onto a moving train! He had to corner me and defeat me in battle! I-I made him earn the right to-"

"Oh my _gawd_ you fury fucked him?! Are you serious?" Bonnie howled and held her sides as she laughed.

"Stop laughing Bonnie!" Alice fisted at the bronze chainmail shirt the bounty hunter wore, but that didn't stop her sniggering. "Bonnie!" She pleaded.

"It's alright." K'tan was clattering as he came to stand beside his mate and put his arm over her shoulders. "I worked hard to earn you. I had received the alert that I was to be entered into the bride trails before meeting you. After meeting you I knew you had to be the one. So my intention was to take you to the trials and have you entered regardless. Even after you ran off after your sister, fate _still_ brought you back to me. We were a genetic match." He winked at her. "The Gods clearly still wanted us together."

"Oh you know what he's really saying right?" Bonnie was sniggering as she tapped the hand that still fisted at her chainmail shirt. "He enjoyed boning you so much, he was going to drop you onto the jungle planet to hunt you down, just to officially bone you. With his Gods permission to bone away. Either way, you're boned." Alice growled and lifted Bonnie off the floor in an embarrassed rage.

" _Must_ you actively provoke _everyone_?!" Ta'ryn groaned and held his hands up towards Alice. "Please don't throttle my mate."

"…but she deserves it." Alice glowered, half sulking.

"…yes probably, but still?" Ta'ryn looked to K'tan for help, but he simply clicked his mandibles together with a shrug. Alice was letting him touch her. K'tan wasn't going to cross her to lose the contact. "…little pauk-de."

At the same time as Bonnie teasing Alice, Emma and Eve submissively edged towards their respective mates. Vator had his hands on his hips and shook his head at Emma.

"You really weren't behind this?"

"…no." Emma closed her hazel eyes and braced herself. Vator saw this and felt angry flames burn in his gut. She really thought that little of him, that he'd attack her? When they were talking? "Why…were you put into the bride trials?"

"…" Vator folded his arms and looked off to one side. It took a moment for Emma to realise he was blushing. "…Vator?"

"…" He looked to her and groaned. "Come here." he leaned over and beckoned her close enough to whisper. "…do _not_ freak out…and don't broadcast this." Emma blinked, and nodded. "I have…a higher than average sperm count. I'm more fertile than a normal Yautja. I have been selected for my ability to…provide _quantity_ over genetic variety." Emma bolted stiff and blinked with wide eyes up at him. "Don't freak out." He pointed at her, still blushing. "Doesn't matter how bloody fertile I am if you don't let me touch you." Vator put a hand on his hip and huffed. "I know you…think very little of me." Vator whispered. "But if you would only _try_ to get to know me, you'd see that I'm not as scary as you seem to think I am." He reached to touch her, stroke her face, maybe hold her shoulder, but Emma didn't linger to find out. She flinched and stepped back. Vator sighed and folded his arms. "You'd have to give me a chance first though, to find out."

Eve kept her head low, held her elbows and her tail curved around her feet as she waited before him.

"…are you…going to tell me off too?"

 **"** **No."** Kantanu stood, stoic and unreadable. His green and red eyes bore down into her, the only sign he was angry. His arms were folded over his onyx black chest, and his tail swayed eerily behind him. **"We will talk, once we are alone."** Eve inhaled sharply and bit her lips. She bowed her head forward, her raven hair hiding her face from him.

She knew what that meant. He meant telepathically. She trembled in anticipation of the pain and pressure he would cause her. **"Stop that."**

"S-sorry I-"

 **"** **You wouldn't feel anywhere near as much** ** _discomfort_** **if you simply submitted to me. It only hurts because you resist."** Eve swallowed deeply and her tail coiled around her feet on the floor more tightly. **"I try to share my very being with you. No one will ever be more intimate with you than I am."**

"But I-"

 **"** **I entered the trails, by choice, to save your life. Because you're like me. Yet you repay me by** ** _fleeing_** **?"** Kantanu effectively ended the conversation and lifted his tail to bring the spear point towards her. She knew what he wanted. Eve closed her eyes and uncoiled her tail from around her feet. She intertwined the ends of their tails together, knowing she couldn't escape him now. **"I am cross, and we will discuss this betrayal later…"** He clicked his mandibles to one side and huffed. **"…but I will also forgive you."** Eve snapped her head to look up at him with surprise.

"You…will?"

 **"** **I will always forgive you. Always."**

Sargo managed to talk Toni down from holding her fists up and taking a swing for his head.

"You really didn't have a choice but to enter the trials?" Toni pressed him sceptically. She wasn't as easy to convince as the others. She thought it was too bloody convenient.

"No. But each of you had at least 40 selected males each allocated to you." Sargo chuckled at the flabbergasted collective gasp they released. "We are all the winners. We fought hard to earn you."

"Why?" Toni ground. "If this wasn't your choice, why fight so hard to 'earn' us?" Sargo put his hands on his hips and smirked at her.

"I can't speak for everyone else? But I was one of the original landing party that saw you in action. I was tempted then, but seeing you hunt and lead on the jungle planet really impressed me." Sargo purred softly, and then cleared his throat. "So I fought hard to win the proving trials to win the right to test you."

"…" Toni folded her arms and pouted. She looked to the side and couldn't swallow what he'd told her. it still felt like a bitter pill going down.

Her big brown eyes looked around the group…and couldn't believe what she was seeing.


	20. Making choices

Bonnie and Alice were laughing _with_ Ta'ryn and K'tan. Eve and Kantanu were linked at the tail. Emma and Vator were talking to one side in hushed conversation. Sargo was smiling and trying to laugh with her, and even Hetta seemed comfortable as Iru'tu held her shoulder and tapped her nose. The blonde even laughed at one of his jokes! Noriko was the only other one there who kept her distance and fists raised towards Kuruk.

 _Oh no. what happened to our escape plan?_ Rage frothed at the edges within her. "Well who cares if they didn't have a choice!" Toni barked at the entire party, getting all their attention. "Why does that change the fact that _we've_ been abducted, hunted, and are now being forced to be brides for these arseholes?! Why does their lack of choice, make our incarceration any better?"

Bonnie looked up at Ta'ryn and her smile vanished. She took hold of Alice's wrist and guided her back from K'tan as well.

"It doesn't." Bonnie frowned. _I forgot myself. I started laughing and-and we came here to escape! Not make nice!_ It was hard to hate them quite as much now they knew how little choice they had…and how hard they'd been trying to make the best of a dire situation… but Bonnie wasn't going to give up on her freedom so easily.

"Right." Toni seethed and nodded. "There are shuttles behind them. We can still-"

"Don't be a fool." Sargo shook his head at her. He reached for her, and she back handed his offered palm away. He snarled, feeling stung by her uncaring rejection. "We can all go home and carry on like this never happened. But we need to go _now._ "

"If we have to fight, then the ship's sensors will pick up the altercation. They have monitors for elevated heart rate, pheromone and pressure sensors in the walls. If we fight, there will be repercussions." K'tan reached for Alice to come back, but she shook her head.

"I need to get my friends to safety. Then we can talk."

"No you don't understand." K'tan urgently shook his head, his hands up. "Fighting like this? Trying to steal a ship? That's no small offence. The Arbitrators will come to punish you. And as of yet you're not technically our mates, as you need to say the words of joining _whilst_ joined. We might not even be allowed to take the punishment on your behalf."

"You need to calm down." Ta'ryn also tried the gentle gentle approach. He threw a scowl over at Toni. Bonnie was just starting to warm up to him, laughing as she teased her friend. Then one bitter hiss from that _woman_ and Bonnie snapped out of it. "Bonnie? You only put this plan together because you knew you couldn't take me one on one. We are _all_ here. This is only going to end one way."

"In pain, in a hospital bed, and in a _C'jit-ton_ of trouble." Kuruk wagged a finger at Noriko. "And then you'll be right back where you started. Locked up because we can't trust you."

"The same stunt won't work twice." K'tan he gripped his hands by his sides. "If you want to have _some hope_ of salvaging _any_ trust out of this fiasco, then you need to walk home with us right now. I cleared the docks, but sooner or later the higher ups will notice. If word got out about your escape attempt, we won't be able to protect you."

"Please Hetta? We are to be mates, you and I. That isn't going to change. Can't we _try_ to make the best of it? Can't you let me _try_ and make you happy?" Iru'tu cupped her cheek and saw her resolve wavering in her bright blue eyes. she wasn't as quick to violence as the others. She was an animal behaviourist, not a fighter. "Can we go home Hetta? Please?" he spokes softly and stroked his thumb against her cheek.

"…" Hetta opened her mouth, closed it and sighed.

Vator saw how withdrawn Emma was, and how she trembled. He was still close enough to her to grab her…but instead he leaned over to whisper to her.

"I can see you worry what your friends will think, but you are smart enough to see reason." Emma sniffled and held her elbows. Her hazel eyes watered, and she nodded to him. "I could throw you over my shoulder? So you friends think you resisted?" Emma looked up with her mouth parted in shock.

"…you would…do that…for me?"

"I don't want to hurt you Emma. I want us to go home together. If I must play the role of the villain to achieve that, then I'll do it gladly." Emma gulped, and turned to look at her friends. Noriko and Bonnie would obviously fight, as would Toni. But Emma saw how close Hetta was to giving in. Eve was already linked by the tail to Kantanu. She wasn't going to resist. Alice? Well she looked to be on the fence too.

Either way, this escape plan had failed. They weren't getting onto a ship and escaping.

"…ok." Emma felt guilty the moment the submissive plea left her lips.

"Thank you Emma. You've made the right choice." Vator spoke softly and then stood upright. "THAT'S IT! WE ARE GOING HOME!" He roared, took hold of Emma's hips and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. Once she was settled there he held her legs over his front and pat her back on his shoulder. "Thank you." He whispered and walked towards Kantanu and the door.

"Hay!" Bonnie snapped her head to Vator escaping with Emma up over his shoulder. "Put her down!" Bonnie launched across Alice and ran towards the green yautja.

"No don't!" Ta'ryn ran after her, but he was too late. It was like everything slowed down. Bonnie ran full pelt towards Vator, jumped up and brought her fist down at his head. Vator side stepped, caught her fist in his spare hand and kicked her in the gut. He launched her back, skidding along the floor.

"Vator?!" Emma screeched. "You just-Bonnie!" She pushed against his back and kicked her legs, trying to get free. Vator wrapped his arms around her thighs to keep her in place.

"C'jit! She attacked me! I just reacted! Emma calm down!" Vator didn't want to wait around for any of the fallout that was coming. He nodded up to Kantanu. "Excuse me."

"Wait! Vator! M-my friends!" She begged him not to leave. She looked on with horror.

Bonnie gasped as she wobbled to all fours, holding her ribs and looking through the fog of her pain towards the hanger doorway. The very familiar feeling of bruising and struggling to breathe plagued her.

"Mother fucker." She hissed and managed to get to one knee, staring intently at Vator and Emma on his shoulder. "I'm coming Emma!"

"No you're not." Ta'ryn snarled and stormed towards her.

"Bonnie!" Toni ran towards her friend and stood over her defensively. She got there first and glared at Ta'ryn, who growled and raised his fists.

"I don't want to hurt Bonnie. She's my mate. But you? You're fair game. I'll smack you up and down this pauking hanger if you don't back off." The Berserker roared with his mandibles flared.

"Not on your fucking-shit!" Sargo got an arm lock around her neck and dragged her backwards.

"Don't threaten her!" Sargo snarled over his arms as he scrambled to keep the lock on his mate. Toni screamed with rage and flung her legs, gripping his forearm to stop him choking her out. She moved quickly, getting a fist next to her neck to stop him from doing just that. She shifted herself to stand to his side, flung her other arm up behind him and took hold of some of his dreads. Toni screamed and yanked, arching his head back and causing him to loosen the hold enough for her to shove him and get free. Panting Toni raised her fists and seethed.

"Alright mother fucker. Let's see how you do when I'm not starving, exhausted and full of energy."

"We can spar in the training hall. Don't do this here. We need to leave. Now." Sargo pleaded, but she wasn't having any of it. "Damn it Toni!"

"Hetta please?" Iru'tu still held her face, and frowned at the worried look she wore. "We don't have to fight. We can still go home without any incident or fault here. Please? Let me take your hand and walk us both out of this mess. When the Arbitrator gets here, they'll be dragged off and only the Gods will know what fate awaits them. Please Hetta?" He cooed and tried to catch her gaze. But Hetta was too busy looking left and right of her.

"My friends…"

"Can make their own decisions. You need to make yours." Hetta flinched and watched Bonnie.

The bounty hunter was ducking and weaving from Ta'ryn's fists and colourfully telling him where he could shove his pleas for her to calm down. Bonnie was scrappy, and made Ta'ryn come to _her_. Then she'd aim low, get out of his reach, and wasn't above biting or scratching when he managed to get too close to catching her. He roared with rage, having to defend his crotch far too often to be an accident.

"Stop aiming for my balls Bonnie!?"

"Bite me bone density boy!"

Hetta gulped, still watching her friends.

Toni was putting all her military combat skills to work. She aimed for all the potential pressure points and gaps in his defence. She moved with focus and precision. They grappled and she always got out before he could take her to the floor or get a serious hit on her.

Hetta turned her face away from Iru'tu's palm to looked towards the doorway behind her.

"We need to go Emma. Before we get dragged into this mess." Vator walked through the doorway and grimaced at how hard she sobbed.

"NOOOO!" Emma wept. She didn't want to fight, but she didn't want to leave her friends. What would this Arbitrator _do_ to them when he got here and saw them fighting?

Kantanu pressed the door release and made sure Eve felt how firmly her tail was twined with his. The squeeze drew her from her frozen stare on Alice, who had yet to move either.

 **"** **Eve we are going. It would be best to not be here when the Arbitrator arrives."**

"A-Alice!" Eva called out to her sister. If Kantanu didn't want to stick around, then this Arbitrator must be bad news. "The Arbitrator is coming! Run!" Kantanu walked side by side with Vator out of the hanger. Emma was crying and wriggling on his shoulder, and Eve stumbled as she was led by her tail after Kantanu. "Hurry and leave now! Quickly!"

"She's right." K'tan saw how torn his mate was. Alice wanted to defend her friends, but they were so spread out, she didn't know where to run to first.

Bonnie was being thrown around by Ta'ryn. Toni was landing some hits, but was being sent to the ground with a thud time and time again. Even Noriko seemed to be struggling to defend herself. Kuruk just kept advancing on her and deflecting any attempt she made to make him back off. Noriko moved so quickly her hands were a blur, yet Kuruk seemed to effortlessly side step, push her wrists away so she'd miss her target, and make small decisive moves against her. Soon the assassin would have her back up against the wall. She also hissed and yanked periodically at her kimono, not able to make best use of her flexibility in that dress.

"I…my friends I…"

"Even Eve is going with Kantanu. Your sister knows what is best. She just begged you to leave. Come on." K'tan took her hand, and she tensed, like she was going to rag her hand back. "Alice _please_? I promised to never let you go back into another cage. If you don't leave with me _right now,_ that's _exactly_ where you'll find yourself." Alice felt her knees buckle and she swayed into K'tan's arms.

"N-no. Not another cage. I-I can't be locked up again." Alice shook her head and her amber eyes watered with tears. "My friends. They'll be locked up if I don't-"

"Nothing you do now will change anything that's going to happen to them." K'tan nodded towards Bonnie, Toni and Noriko. He then pointed over to a panel in the wall that had opened up. A red sphere craned out from the wall and pulsed with red light. "That camera has recorded everything that's taken place from the moment Bonnie attacked Vator. Right now their fates are sealed. You haven't raised a fist yet. I can save you Alice. But only if we are _not here_ when the Arbitrator arrives." K'tan took hold of both her wrists and tried to drag her towards the door. "Come on. Let's follow Eve's example. Hurry Alice! Come on!" he started shouting, openly alarmed and dragging her towards the door. "I'm not losing you Alice! hate me if you want, but I damn well refuse to let him take you away from me."

"I…I'm too…I can't…I-" Alice gasped trembled. She wanted to protect her friends. She wanted to flee from even the most remote of chances of being locked up in a cage again. She was so torn. "K-K-K'tan. Help. Help me-I-" His rage subsided and he realised Alice was shaking with fear.

"I've got you." He huffed and lifted her up into his arms and held her close. "Hold on Alice. I'm getting you out of here." K'tan ran full pelt with her in his arms. He didn't hesitate when it came to careering down the corridor and out of sight.

Hetta saw this, and looked to Iru'tu, who hadn't tried once to manhandle her or roar at her.

"…Emma, Eve and Alice are gone."

"They are safe. You can be safe too. Come on Hetta." The mighty tiger put his arm around her shoulders and gently guided her towards the doorway. "That's it. One step at a time."

"Oi! Get your fucking hands off her!" Hetta dug her feet in, holding her own arms, and turned to look at Bonnie. She had a busted eyebrow, her nose was bleeding and staining her teeth red. Hetta watched as Bonnie, on all fours, lifted to one foot to come after her. Ta'ryn took hold of her ankle on the floor and dragged her back along the floor towards him.

"W-would you do that to me?" Hetta trembled, and yelped as she was swept up into his arms.

"No, because I don't need to. You're not stubborn like they are. You have a sensible head and a sweet heart. Now come on. We…are about to run out of time." Hetta stared at him and slowly nodded, sobbing and closing her blue eyes. "Good. Thank you Hetta." He exhaled deeply with relief and walked a lot faster than exuded calm. "Hang on. We'll be home before you know it."


	21. Enter the Arbitrator

Kuruk cackled, thoroughly enjoying himself. Noriko had discarded the kimono and wore bandages around her chest and a thin white wrap around skirt. Where she'd found that he didn't know. Unlike Sargo and Ta'ryn, the white yautja was chuckling and playing with his mate. Much to her ire.

"Hold still so I can break your neck!"

"Catch me." Kuruk teased her, side stepping another attempt to bring the edge of her hand to his trachea. Noriko managed to fall onto her hands and snap her legs up to aim for his face. Kuruk simply placed his palm to her ankles and controlled her flip. As she continued to her feet and lifted to stand, he walked with her flip, pivoted to turn his hips and extend his palm to push her stomach. Noriko yelped, startled and he made her stumble to get her balance again. Kuruk didn't hurt her, but he _seriously_ pissed her off. "You look so cute when you're face turns red r'ka."

"Stop…calling me…that!" Noriko screamed and launched at him again.

Not five strides away from them, Sargo had Toni on her knees, his knees at either side of hers as he held her from behind. His arms looped under hers and his hands locked together behind her head.

"Now will you _please_ calm down?"

"Fuck off." She hissed and she flung her arms back to try and claw at his face. Sargo adjusted his hold to spread her shoulders and arch her back, so she couldn't reach him. She winced, so bruised and battered that this stretching was causing a lot of pain. "Son of a bitch!"

"As soon as you calm down, we can stop sparing and talk."  
"Sparing!?" She screamed. Toni wasn't sparing. She was fighting for her life.

Thud.

Right in front of her Bonnie landed on her back and exhaled with a rasp.

"…mother…fucker…" She rolled onto her front and dizzily looked up to see Toni. "…oh hi…"

"…" Toni groaned as here arms were held at that awful angle behind her back.

"…come here often?" Bonnie sniggered and wheezed, crawling to her knees. "I do…I seem to fucking _live_ here."

"Little…busy right now…Bonnie." Toni strained, trying to find a way to slip the arm lock. Sargo was ridiculously strong, in her opinion. Bonnie wobbled to her feet and took a step towards her.

"Wanna hand?" She stammered and swayed over, fists raised and perfectly ready to punch Sargo in his face.

"Look out!" Toni hissed and nodded to the side. Bonnie blinked her blue eyes and turned barely in time to see Ta'ryn launch at her.

"Fuck!" She brought her fists up, but it did no good. Ta'ryn spear tackled her to the ground, and if he didn't have hold of the back of her head, she would have surely shattered her skull with the impact.

"Bonnie…" Toni hissed and thrashed as hard as she could.

"Give up Toni. You're not going anywhere. I've got you. Submit right now before-"

The hander doors opened and the sound of metal boots against the dock floor reverberated through their hearts. "…oh no…"

Walking towards them in all his glory was an Arbitrator. Bonnie looked up from her front being pressed into the metal floor and blinked through the haze of her brain being rattled in her head at him.

He had skin like a crocodile. So dark green and mottled. Silver Awu'asa with so many knicks and dints that it was clear that he'd been through many battles. He walked with grace and oozed with confidence. The air seemed to drop several degrees in his presence, and all the humans felt like a true apex predator had wondered into their sheep pen. A silvery blue wrap round skirt and cape billowed behind him. He walked with a ceremonial staff, showing his rank, but by no means did he need it to walk. A sharp naginata blade ordained the top, and small skulls and fangs dangled at the base of it. The staff was silver, like his armour. He wore no mask, and his long black dreads swayed half way down his back with silver bolts here and there. they were ornate, with delicate carved runes in them. He had paler green skin over his neck and torso, as well as his palms and probably the soles of his feet. His bright yellow eyes gleamed with authority as he marched over to stand in front of the three pairs. He banged his staff on the floor once, and the three yautja scrambled to drag themselves and their mates to stand before him.

"C'jit. Bonnie, under no circumstances to you say _anything._ You'll get your throat slit before you can blink. Silent. I mean it." The only thing that scared Bonnie more than this Arbitrator's appearance, was the fear in Ta'ryn's voice. Even Kuruk seemed very tense. Something inherent in the three human women told them not to resist their mate's plea to stand still and obediently before the Arbitrator.

"Your grace." Sargo spoke and bowed his head low. All three yautja did this, and they used their hands to push the human women to do the same. Again, they didn't resist.

"I am Arbitrator Jaavik of the high council. You have broken several clan laws by fighting in an undesignated area."

"Yes your grace." Ta'ryn spoke, keeping his hands on Bonnie's shoulders and his eyes cast down.

"In the docks by the scout shuttles of all places? Curious?" With a flutter of his silvery blue cape he lifted his left hand up and flicked his bracer open. "The security log shows that there were several more of you at the beginning of the altercation, but you three remained behind."

"Yes your grace." Kuruk answered.

"Your mates appear to be the instigators." Jaavik declared with an aloof sneer. "The others were able to subdue their mates to see reason. And yet these three made a challenge?"

Funnily enough…no one answered him. "It is a great honour to be allowed the privilege of a mate. Many hundreds of thousands would gladly take your places. Are you so incapable of controlling your mates that they defy you so _openly?"_ Again, no answer. "If your mates resist you because they find you to be unworthy, others could be selected for them. Mates capable of exerting a _firmer_ hand? If they are still unbonded, of course."

All the women tensed, and Bonnie gasped audibly. _Shit. He's taking about finding three new arseholes to replace them as our 'mates'. Firmer hand? He means bigger fucktards than…_ Bonnie gulped. She saw a flash of a memory. Ta'ryn holding her hair as she barfed. Holding a cup of water to her lips. Chatting with her over the tablet about the clan. "Or is it the Oomans that are being unreasonable?" Bonnie's heart was not the only one that plummeted to her stomach. "I could have them returned to the proving grounds before the end of the day. If they survive long enough they can be sorted to another potential match. You have all proved yourselves in the proving. You could have new, more _reasonable_ mates selected for you?" _shit shit shit!_ Bonnie gulped.

"Your grace?" Ta'ryn slowly lifted his head up to look at the Arbitrator. "I am very happy my with mate. We…got carried away sparing. I will take the punishment for Bonnie. She doesn't know better. I do. This is my fault."

"And mine." Sargo spoke up. "I got swept up in the moment."

"As did I." Kuruk also lifted his head. "I got too excited by Noriko's challenge. I accept the consequences for my actions your grace."

"Oh I see?" Jaavik chuckled and inclined his head as he scanned his yellow eyes across the very pale looking Oomans. "So to be clear? All the fault is yours, not your Ooman mates, and you will all take the punishment for breaking our clan laws? No matter the punishment I choose?" The yautja all nodded and braced themselves. "I should think your three are very lucky, to have mates willing to _lie_ to an Arbitrator and take an unspecified punishment in your behalf."

His smooth voice cut them all deeply. Noriko forgot to breathe, and Toni swayed in Sargo's arms. "I have the perfect idea for your punishment. For _all_ of you." Jaavik chuckled darkly. "Clan Raacnol has developed something called 'intimacy collars'. It seems to have done wonders to promote successful breeding pairs after their bride trails."

"Your grace?!" Kuruk had never sounded so worried before. Jaavik banged his staff, and the white yautja snapped his head back down.

"You will all report in the morning to the med labs to have them installed. You will both wear collars that will prevent you from being out of close proximity to your mate." Bonnie whimpered, and noticed how Ta'ryn gave her bruised shoulders a comforting squeeze. "If you try to go out of this proximity, you will both feel excruciating pain. Being so close, you will be forced to keep an eye on each other, so _this_ never happens _again…_ " The Arbitrator was clearly referring to the escape attempt. "… _and_ living in each other's laps will promote romantic and intimate experiences for you both." Jaavik smirked and raised a brow at how pale the yautja suddenly looked. "If you don't report to have your intimacy collars installed, I will send the Oomans back to the proving planet and you will all receive new mates. Am I understood?"

"Yes your grace." The yautja all chorused together.

"Good." Jaavik turned with a flare of his cape and then looked over his shoulder at their knelt forms. "…if only you'd have calmed down and left with your mates like the others did? Then you would have avoided my _acute attention._ I will be watching you three couples _intently_ from now on. I look forward to hearing news of your upcoming pregnancies."

He walked out of the hanger bay and left the three couples to all exhale deeply and flounder.

"I-I can't wear a fucking collar!"

"Yes you will." Kuruk snapped, not his usual playful self. "We both will. Oh, and before you even think about it? Those intimacy collars are no joke. They even monitor our vitals." He gripped her bicep and snarled at her. "I you harm me, you will feel the same pain. If you kill me, you will be killed by electric shock. Do you understand? the severity of what you've done?"

"Oh shit." Noriko groaned.

"Damn it Toni." Sargo walked away from her and exhaled deeply. "I thought he was going to send you back to the planet. I was so worried." He took a deep breath and reached for her. "Come on. You must be sore. Let me help you."  
"No thanks." She hissed and started limping on her own towards the hanger door. "I'll enjoy my last moments of distance, thank you."

"Bonnie?" Ta'ryn saw the pensive look on Bonnie's face and lifted her chin to examine her bloody face. "I…I'm sorry about hurting you. I was trying to restrain you. I'll tend to those wounds when we get home."

"Why?" Bonnie turned and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Ta'ryn groaned. He really didn't have the energy to fight with her anymore today. "You could have gotten rid of me, and you didn't." He blinked, having not expected that. "You could have sent my ass back to the jungle planet and tried your luck with another woman who didn't fight you so much. That was your _chance…"_

Toni and Noriko stared. Bonnie was…crying. "You could have…you lied to protect me from…you didn't even know _what_ he was going to do to me. And you…you offered to…why? Why?!" She screamed as she cried, banging her fists on his chest. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because you are my mate." Ta'ryn held her wrists and held her steady. "You're not just a walking baby maker. You, with time, will be my partner. My companion. The mother of my children. I wouldn't fight so hard to win you, and to _keep you_ , if I didn't care about what happens to you." Ta'ryn sighed and drew Bonnie to his chest as she trembled with angry hot tears. "If you were sent back, you could die next time. Or you could be selected again and the next guy might not…care as much as I do." He chuckled and stoked the back of her hair. "If anything I think we got off easy." Bonnie scoffed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her arm.

"Yeah you say that now. Just you wait until you have my annoying ass stuck to you 24/7."

"I'm sure I'll be fine." Ta'ryn chuckled and rested his hands on her shoulders. He lifted his yellow eyes up to see that Noriko and Toni's shoulders had drooped, and they also seemed to be looking at their mates with reluctant appreciation.

"How close will we be anyway?" Bonnie sniffled and took a step towards the doors. Ta'ryn hovered his hand behind her back, as she still limped and was likely quite bruised. If she fell, he was ready to catch her.

"I'm not sure."

"Very close." Kuruk answered, and the 6 of them walked together out of the hanger. "From what I've heard you basically have to share the same room at all times."

"Wait, at _all times?"_ Toni winced and begrudgingly let Sargo lift her up into his arms. she ached too much to protest. Besides? They were about to be very close, for an undetermined amount of time.

"Including when we sleep, piss and shower?" Noriko made Kuruk chuckle, and he nodded to her. "Ah _crap."_

"Well shit. I snore." Bonnie nodded up at Ta'ryn.

"I know." He chuckled at her. "I can hear you across the apartment. It will make no difference to me if you're snoring beside me, with how loud you are."

"Hay!" Bonnie sulked. "…not that loud."

"Yeah you are." Toni jeered. "We all slept in the RV remember? You made the windows rattle."

"Shut up!"

They bickered and teased each other, sore and worried about the following morning, but relieved that no one was being locked up, killed, sent back to the proving grounds, or given new mates.

Jaavik watched on his tablet, tracking them as they returned to their private quarters. He smirked, very proud of himself.

"Dresk will be so proud of me. I can't wait to tell him."


End file.
